Before UFC 298, Ilia Topuria constantly provoked Volkanovski with the affirmation of the opponent who was “out of date” for her age. Volkanovski himself did not refuse the truth, but he even followed the topuria with a costume outfit at the press conference before the event.
Volkanovski not only appeared in front of the audience with an old suit, wearing glasses and wearing berets; He also pretended to tremble before walking up to the auditorium. During the time Topuria answered the press conference, Volkanovski pretended to fall asleep, as a common “habit” of the elderly.
On the Topuria side, the challenge of Volkanovski caught the attention of the champion's belt when he was answering the press conference. Commenting on Topuria's actions, Volkanovski said: “My opponent wants to touch the championship at that time, because he knows he will not have the belt after the next match.”
In September, Alexander Volkanovski will turn 36. From the date of defeating Max Holloway in 2019 to win the UFC Championship of the Featherweight Weight, Volkanovski has 5 times to protect the belt successfully. He even promoted Lightweight to challenge Islam Makhachev in 2023.
Since the time of joining UFC in 2016, Volkanovski still retains the achievement of winning in the weight of Featherweight. Max Holloway is considered the most difficult opponent of Volkanovski so far, but he has lost 3 times in a row and has to find the opportunity to challenge belt.