Alexander Volkanovski ‘Excited’ by future UFC title fight with Ilia Topuria: ‘People are hyping him up’
Slated to make his Octagon return next month at UFC 290 during International Fight Week, featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski has welcomed the possibility of a future title fight with the undefeated, Ilia Topuria, noting how “excited” he is by the German-born contender’s rise.
Volkanovski, who returns to the Octagon next weekend atop a UFC 290 pay-per-view card in Las Vegas, Nevada – headlines the promotion’s International Fight Week event, in a featherweight championship unification bout with interim gold holder, Yair Rodríguez.
Attempting to keep his perfect featherweight record intact during his Octagon tenure, New South Wales native, Volkanovski had headlined UFC 284 back in February on home soil in Perth, Australia – suffering a close, unanimous decision loss to lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev in a title showdown.
Alexander Volkanovski has been challenged to a title fight by Ilia Topuria
As for Topuria, the Georgian contender headlined for the first time during his promotional tenure at UFC Jacksonville over the course of the weekend, turning in a one-sided shutout decision win over former interim champion, Josh Emmett – leaping to number five in the rankings as a result.
Noting his intentions to attend the T-Mobile Arena event in view of Volkanovski and Rodríguez next week, Topuria appears to have most definitely landed the attention of Australian fan-favorite, Volkanovski, at least.
“You’ve mentioned guys coming through like (Ilia) Topuria and things like that,” Alexander Volkanovski said during an appearance on DC & RC. “People are hyping him up, it excites me, I love it. …I’m not gonna say too much.”
“Obviously, I think he’s a good fight,” Alexander Volkanovski continued. “The more i speak, the less I’m gonna hype up the fight.”
Searching for his fifth successful title defense in his title unification bout with Rodríguez, Volkanovski has twice beaten Max Holloway as undisputed champion – in between two victories over both Brian Ortega, and Chan Sung Jung.
