A star is born! Saturday night belonged to Ilia Topuria, as the 27-year-old knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to become Spain and Georgia’s first UFC Champion. Fellow Georgian, Merab Dvalishvili shined, as well, showing off insane cardio and mid-fight high jinks to match. We take a look at the best matchups for the winners and losers of the UFC 298 main card below:
Alexander Volkanovski (L) vs. Ilia Topuria (W)
With Max Holloway tied up in a lightweight BMF Title Bout against Justin Gaethje, the division appears to lack a clear available top contender outside of Alexander Volkanovski. While Yair Rodriguez or Brian Ortega could change that with a spectacular win this weekend, we still think it makes the most sense for Topuria and Volk to run it back. Volk has been at the top of the division for half a decade, and his multiple dominant title defenses paired with his success in the first round against Topuria seem like enough to earn him another crack at the title, perhaps on Topuria’s turf.
Robert Whittaker (W) vs. Paulo Costa (L)
We were surprised that this was not fight of the night! This high intensity showdown between two studs with granite chins did not disappoint. While Paulo Costa’s spinning heel kick to end Round 1 stole the show, Whittaker was able to get the job done with high volume blitz attacks and heavy leg kicks. Either one of these men could be at the helm of the Middleweight division, and we’d love to see both get another title shot in the near future. In fact, we think that Rob deserves a rematch with Middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis, so long as Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland don’t get in the way. We pity the man that gets put across the octagon from Costa with those snapping high kicks added to his toolkit, but Jared Cannonier and Khamzat Chimaev are two world beaters that could be up for the task.
Geoff Neal (L) vs. Ian Garry (W)
While not super action packed, we understand why these two fighters took a more measured approach in the octagon on Saturday night. As Ian Garry told the press after the fight, Geoff Neal “hits like a truck.” And for his part, “Handz of Steel” had to deal with Garry’s significant length advantage and brutal knees splitting his guard as he tried to close the distance. Garry’s callout of Colby Covington makes sense – and it’s the fight we’d like to see happen. Pending Kevin Holland’s matchup with Michael “Venom” Page, we think that Holland and Neal would have a scrap to remember.
Merab Dvalishvili (W) vs. Henry Cejudo (L)
In this highly anticipated fight Saturday night, Merab showed how phenomenal his cardio is. Although Merab showed that he truly is a contender for the title, the former double champion, Henry Cejudo, appeared very disappointed after this loss. Prior to the fight, Cejudo vouched that he would “100 percent” retire if he lost to Dvalishvili in his upcoming bout. Despite Cejudo’s prior statement, it has not been confirmed whether or not he truly did retire, as he was not given a chance to speak post-fight. UFC President, Dana White, said, “Merab went in there tonight and beat a former champion. Henry Cejudo already retired, okay? He did the whole ‘Drop the gloves’ thing. Tonight was Merab’s night. He beat the No. 3 guy in the world, a former world champion, and easily won the fight…if he wants to retire again, he can do that (at the press conference) or somewhere else.” Although White claims that he is not sure whether or not “Triple C” has retired, many fans believe that his glove removal after his loss signaled his retirement. Given Merab’s spectacular performance, he should be next in line for the title against the winner of Sean O’Malley and Marlon “Chito” Vera.
Anthony Hernandez (W) vs. Roman Kopylov (L)
Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez added to his winning streak of four consecutive wins. Hernandez submitted Kopylov in the second round via rear naked choke. This fight marked Anthony Hernandez’s first fight as a ranked fighter; he was ranked 15 coming into this fight with Kopylov. We think a fight between Roman Doldize, who is coming off of a loss to Nassourdine Imavov, and Hernandez would be a great opportunity for both fighters to climb up the rankings. Prior to this fight, Kopylov was on a 4 fight win streak consisiting entirely of KO/TKO’s. We think that a fight with an upcoming unranked prospect would be perfect for Kopylov. Andre Petroski and Jacob Malkoun have an upcoming bout on March 30th. The winner of this fight would be perfect for Kopylov.
