SUMMARY
- Ilia Topuria will be fighting Alexander Volkanovski for the Featherweight Championship at UFC 298.
- During the UFC 298 press conference, Ilia Topuria took a page out of Conor McGregor's book.
UFC 298 is almost upon us, and the final formalities are almost wrapped up. As always, the press conference brings with it many talking points, and the latest one was no exception. Notably, we saw the featherweight challenger Ilia Topuria continue his Conor McGregor-esque antics as well.
For those unaware, UFC 298 takes place on February 17, live out of the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. With a lot of buildup and hype surrounding the event, fans cannot wait for the action to get underway. As for the second PPV event of the year, there are a whole host of interesting matchups, bound to keep the fans hooked and entertained.
For the most part, Alexander Volkanovski defends his featherweight title against a promising challenger in Ilia Topuria. Elsewhere, Robert Whittaker squares off against Paulo Costa, whilst Geoff Neal finally faces Ian Garry. Additionally, we also have Merab Dvalishvili taking on Henry Cejudo, with the latter facing a potential retirement if he loses. lastly, we also have Anthony Hernandez taking on Roman Koplov to round out the main card.
Ilia Topuria snatched the featherweight title at UFC 298 press conference
As mentioned previously, the UFC 298 press conference made for an entertaining watch. Playing into his ‘old man’ role, Alexander Volkanovski sported a fitting costume as well. Coming into the fight, ‘The Great‘ drummed up a lot of hype with his little promo where he pretended to be an old man. Similarly, he continued playing the part at the press conference, often falling asleep, walking hunched over, or with a limp.
At the same time, his challenger, Ilia Topuria, has been keeping up with the young, hungry, Conor McGregor’s regen trope. Prior to the press conference, the Georgian-Spanish fighter managed to lift Volkanovski’s title for the media day photoshoots. Although he eventually did return it, he managed to get a hold of it again during the press conference when he simply marched over to his opponent’s side of the table.
We’ve seen this move before 👀@TopuriaIlia taking a page from Conor McGregor ahead of #UFC298 pic.twitter.com/bMdP3ehIV4
— UFC (@ufc) February 16, 2024
Coming into this fight, ‘El Matador‘ has had a lot to say. With promises of knocking out Volkanovski in the very first round, the challenger has done a lot of trash-talking on his part. As such, many have suggested that he is following the Conor McGregor playbook, word for word and bar for bar. As such, let’s take a look at why the fans think that Ilia’s actions bear a striking resemblance to that of ‘The Notorious One‘ from years gone by.
Ilia Topuria’s similarities to Conor McGregor
For the most part, Ilia Topuria has had a meteoric rise to the top in the UFC. Hailing from a relatively less popular (MMA-wise) region, the 27-year-old is one of the first big stars from his region. Moreover, his unabashed confidence, swagger, and even his wardrobe resemble that of a hungry McGregor, who challenged Jose Aldo for the featherweight title in 2015.
Notably, the Irishman was a menace with his trash talk in the lead-up to the fight, before rattling off Aldo by snatching his title during the press conference. Eventually, he would go on to knock out the champ within a record 13 seconds. As such, Ilia has done the same, and will likely look to replicate the Irishman’s actions inside the Octagon as well. With that said, there are a lot more similarities between the two as well.
The similarities are scary. 🤯👀
(h/t @espnmma)#UFC298 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/1OmYXHCDBl
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) February 14, 2024
For one, both sported a 6-0 record in the UFC before their featherweight title challenge. Additionally, both fighters happened to be on a 14-fight win streak, at 27 years old, with a noticeable chest tattoo at the time. All things considered, it is understandable why Topuria would want to follow Conor’s blueprint. However, at the same time, he wishes to go one further and beat McGregor as well. Whether he fulfills his prophecy or not, only time will tell.