Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria Prediction

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14 February 2024

Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria Prediction

UFC 298 is coming this weekend on the UFC schedule from Anaheim, California. The headlining bout is a highly-anticipated UFC featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.

Volkanovski vs. Topuria Pick

Pick: Volkanovski -126.

Continue reading for the official Volkanovski vs Topuria prediction before placing any UFC bets on this weekend’s fights.

Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria Information

Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria

Location of the fight: Honda Center, Anaheim, California, United States

Date and Time: February 17, 2024.10 PM ET main card start

How to Watch: ESPN+ PPV

Last Fight Record

Volkanovski will try to bounce back from a first-round KO loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 in October.

Topuria is coming off a dominant unanimous decision victory over Josh Emmett last June.

Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria Betting Analysis

Alexander Volkanovski

Volkanovski is an Australian mixed martial artist with a 26-3 professional record, including 13 TKO/KO wins and 3 submissions. He is unbeaten in the UFC as a featherweight and is well on his way to rewriting the record books of the historically great division. You can look at the record books at UFC.com because there are too many note-worthy analytics and accomplishments to put here.

Volkanovksi is a 5’6” orthodox fighter with a 71” reach at 35 years old. He averages 6.19 significant strikes landed and 3.42 significant strikes absorbed per minute, which is the biggest striking differential in featherweight history. He also mixes in 1.84 takedowns per 15 minutes and holds a decent 70% takedown defense, which is kind of skewed because of his fights against all-time great wrestlers like Chad Mendes and Islam Makhachev at the championship level.

Ilia Topuria

Topuria is a Spanish professional MMA fighter with a perfect 14-0 record, including 4 TKO/KO wins and 8 submissions. At only 27, he has already won three post-fight bonuses in the UFC and earned himself a title shot.

“El Matador” is a 5’7” orthodox fighter with a 69” reach. He averages 4.44 significant strikes landed and 3.05 absorbed per minute in the octagon, with an impressive 67% striking defense. Topuria also averages 2.19 takedowns per 15 minutes and 1.5 submissions per 15 minutes as well. On top of all that, he holds a stingy 92% takedown defense.

Updates

Neither the UFC nor ESPN have reported any injuries.

Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria Betting Preview

To make a correct Volkanovski vs Topuria prediction, you need to take away bias and the hype around the fighters to preview the betting lines and understand the skills and styles both of these men bring to the octagon.

Starting with the available UFC odds, Volkanovski is coming in as the -126 betting favorite over Topuria at +106 according to BetUS. Topuria seems to have some support and this line might even draw closer due to public money on the challenger by the end of fight week. The over/under is set at 3.5 rounds as well for this title fight.

Since this is such a close fight on the books, the money line is really all you need to worry about unless you are extremely confident about a prop bet after reading this analysis and prediction. This is arguably the best upcoming UFC fight to watch and it’s razor close for a reason.

Stylistically, Volkanovksi is one of the most cognitively advanced fighters we have ever seen. His fight IQ, along with his preparation for fights are second to none. He isn’t some kind of elite athlete, but he is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.

Topuria is a young, confident athlete with a lot of skill on the ground and tons of power. He has evolved his style into a boxing style over the recent years, which allows him to throw some of the cleanest combinations in the UFC.

Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria Betting Prediction

When Volkanovski is on the UFC fight schedule, you need to watch. He is the classiest champion of this generation and deserves all the recognition and attention in the world.

That’s exactly what makes this Volkanovski vs Topuria prediction an easy one to make. Volkanovski has been in the cage with the best at 145 lbs and has beaten every one of them. His preparation is what sets him apart from everyone else.

Topuria is going to get humbled and it will help him in the long run; he will be a champion one day and everyone needs to realize he’s only 27 years old. He trains with his family, never lost a round in the gym probably, and clearly has beautiful rehearsed techniques that make him very scary to fight.

But Volkanovski is impossible to bet against right now and he will remind everyone of the level he’s at in this game. Getting him at -126 odds feels like it should be illegal–the mortal lock of UFC 298.