Georgian-Spanish fighter, Ilia Topuria stunned Australian great, Alexander Volkanovski with a second-round knockout to win the featherweight title at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California, Sunday morning.
After a cautius first round from both fighters, the 27-year-old Topuria dropped Volkanovski with a crushing right hook in round 2 to claim his maiden championship ending the 35-year-old’s glittering featherweight reign of five title defences over four years.
Victory at the Honda Centre extended Topuria’s unbeaten record to 15 fights and realised his potential as the world champion many pundits have predicted.
Topuria raised his hands to his head in celebration, consoled a crestfallen Volkanovski, then draped himself in Georgian and Spanish colours and shared the moment with his family.
In the co-main event, Australian former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker earned a unanimous decision victory over Paulo Costa of Brazil while American former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo suffered his second straight defeat as he was outpointed by Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia at bantamweight.
On the undercard, Irish welterweight Ian Machado Garry earned a split decision win over American Geoff Neal.
Following the event, it was announced that Alex Pereira of Brazil will defend his light-heavyweight title against American Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC 300 in Las Vegas on the 13th of April.