Ilia Topuria is the brand new king of the featherweights. Sure, after months of trash discuss, the assured Spaniard made good on his guarantees, toppling Alexander Volkanovski and seizing the UFC featherweight strap with a brutal second-round knockout at UFC 298. Topuria’s history-making win headlined an action-packed journey to Anaheim’s Honda Heart, which additionally included the rise of a number of contenders younger and outdated alike, plus far more.
With a lot to debate, let’s dive proper into our seven largest takeaways from UFC 298.
1. One mistimed again step, one excellent proper hook to the jaw, and poof — it’s gone. A fort that took a close to half-decade to construct, crumbled instantly. However that’s how these items go.
That’s the humorous factor concerning the biggest eras in UFC historical past — nearly all of them are deposed not with a knock-down, drag-out battle, not with a ballyhooed struggle of attrition, however with a single flash of dazzlingly distinctive violence. Conor McGregor Jedi-mind-tricking an icon. Anderson Silva getting hoisted along with his personal petard. Kamaru Usman failing to expire the clock. Alexander Volkanovski was neither the primary nor will he be the final to undergo this destiny, so allow us to first mourn what has been misplaced.
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The previous champ’s legacy can be dissected advert nauseam over the following days, weeks, and years, particularly if Saturday marks the start of the kind of slide we regularly see from growing older former champions in related circumstances. However don’t let the unhealthy religion arguments which can be certain to come back dissuade you from the truths we’ve all witnessed since 2016. Alexander Volkanovski is without doubt one of the biggest abilities of this MMA period. Full cease. His 1,526 days atop the featherweight division was the fifth-longest consecutive title reign in UFC males’s historical past, behind solely 4 all-timers: Jose Aldo (1,848 days), Georges St-Pierre (2,064 days), Demetrious Johnson (2,142 days), and Silva (2,457 days). His 12-0 begin to his UFC profession toppled each an outdated guard and a brand new, and he was constant in his brilliance, a category act by way of and thru, a really perfect consultant for the game each step of the best way.
Is Volkanovski the featherweight GOAT? For some, little doubt. For me, that mantle nonetheless resides with Aldo. But it surely doesn’t matter. His legend is already far better than 99.9 p.c of fighters to lace up four-ounce gloves over the previous three many years. He is without doubt one of the 10 biggest abilities to ever grace this recreation. No matter occurs from right here is not going to change that.
However the indicators had been additionally there. Already the oldest champion underneath 170 kilos in UFC historical past, the 35-year-old legend stubbornly defied the reaper in a method none had earlier than him. Previous Man Volk could have taken on a lifetime of its personal this previous week, however the meme was birthed for a cause, and the cracks within the armor had slowly began to seem. Lower than 4 months in the past, he was savagely felled by a shinbone to the cranium. Eight months earlier than that, his decade-long win streak melted into skinny air. Was Volkanovski’s ill-fated choice to step into the Islam Makhachev rematch in October the catalyst for what we watched unfold at UFC 298? Perhaps. Historical past will definitely rewrite the script as if it was, and the harm Volk suffered in a short-notice bout that will’ve by no means occurred in a sport like boxing undoubtedly didn’t assist. However this second was coming ultimately.
And now? The world belongs to Ilia Topuria.
The charismatic Spaniard dove all in forward of UFC 298 in a method few era-enders have. Not solely did he inform the world what was going to occur, he promised to slay the king with an ease that will shock us all. Hell, he modified his freaking Instagram bio to anoint himself because the UFC featherweight champion nicely earlier than he ever touched down in Anaheim. That sort of cocksure disregard takes balls. Topuria strapped himself up for the trip — the last word face plant or the last word rocket ship, a real all or nothing — and he succeeded in a method that almost defies perception. His one-hitter quitter is the moment frontrunner for 2024’s Knockout of the Yr. It’ll take a powerful effort over the subsequent 10 months to eclipse it. And Topuria now has all of the makings of the subsequent UFC famous person.
Dana White already desires to go to Spain for the brand new champ’s first title protection. In case you noticed the exceptional method his countrymen rallied round him this previous week, that needs to be an all-timer of a homecoming. I simply hope two issues for this subsequent step: 1) The UFC doesn’t wait. There’s gold right here. It’s palpable. Strike now earlier than folks overlook. Topuria vs. Movsar Evloev or Aljamain Sterling (if he wins at UFC 300) sounds simply positive. Topuria in Spain is the attraction. Whoever stands throughout from him doesn’t matter. 2) Volkanovski has now been brutally knocked out twice up to now 4 months. I merely hope he’s not rushed into the instant rematch he’s already requested for. Somebody within the UFC or on Volkanovski’s crew must step in and save the ex-champ from himself. Give his mind and physique time to heal and relaxation, in any other case the ending to this story could get a lot worse than it already is.
2. Now that Volkanovski’s iron grip on the featherweight division has been launched, are you aware who the UFC’s longest-reigning present champion is? Go forward, hazard a guess.
It’s Leon Edwards.
A champ who has sat upon his throne exactly 35.84 p.c so long as Volk did and who’s defeated precisely one challenger apart from the person from whom he took the belt.
I don’t know what number of occasions it bears repeating, however the hardest factor to do in MMA just isn’t successful titles in a number of divisions. It’s defending one title over and again and again till a number of eras have fallen in your wake. Not solely will or not it’s a very long time earlier than we see anybody match what Volkanovski achieved, however our present frontrunner (Edwards) must maintain his welterweight title for 3 extra years earlier than he surpassed “The Nice.”
Maintain that in thoughts the primary time you see some moron this week arguing that Volkanovski was by no means pretty much as good as folks tried to say, as a result of I promise you these takes are coming.
3. You understand what? It’s frankly absurd {that a} man with as many wars underneath his belt as Robert Whittaker can nonetheless eat a flush spinning wheel kick to the face from a concrete slab like Paulo Costa and keep his bearings nicely sufficient to win the subsequent two rounds.
At this level, the dogged endurance of Bobby Knux has develop into one thing to actually behold. Few contenders at 185 kilos have been by way of the meat grinder as ferociously and as usually as Whittaker. Heck, the carnage he suffered in his back-to-back brawls with Yoel Romero would’ve floor most fighters’ chins into mud. And that was six years in the past! But nonetheless Whittaker is standing stubbornly within the pocket and turning again monsters like Costa with razor-sharp aplomb. One way or the other, the outdated warhorse has loads of struggle left in him.
I’ve been telling anybody who would hear for some time that middleweight has, in opposition to all odds, develop into a top-four enjoyable division within the UFC proper now. (It’s light-weight, bantamweight, featherweight, then middleweight, in that order.) Whittaker’s staunch steadfastness solely provides to the rollicking revolving door of stars now we have buying and selling locations on the high. I don’t understand how for much longer Whittaker can maintain this going — I think not very, although I’d like to be flawed — however for so long as he’s nonetheless holding his floor round this elite combine, he’s by no means removed from the title image. So how about Robert Whittaker vs. Sean Strickland subsequent?
Throw that struggle on a card in Strickland’s adopted house nation (and Whittaker’s precise house nation) of Australia and bang, we’re in enterprise. It makes an excessive amount of sense.
4. Hardly ever do I do that, however I’m sure about this one: Merab Dvalishvili is the perfect bantamweight on the planet. Belts be damned.
However extra necessary, not less than for the brief time period, is that Dvalishvili implausibly pulled off the unattainable this previous week: He made folks care. And that’s not meant to be a slight.
Take into account how the MMA world appeared to view Dvalishvili till lately. One yr in the past he systemically destroyed Petr Yan and the collective response from the group was one large “meh.” Seven months earlier than that he ended Jose Aldo’s remaining title run and the broader fan base couldn’t have cared much less. You understand I’m proper. Nary a tear was shed when Dvalishvili was handed over for a completely undeserving Marlon Vera as Sean O’Malley’s first title protection, simply as nary a tear was shed when Dvalishvili was coerced into taking a completely pointless struggle in opposition to Henry Cejudo regardless of already proudly owning (on the time) the second-longest win streak within the historical past of the UFC bantamweight division. Them’s simply the breaks in Dana land.
But by the top of the evening on Saturday, Dvalishvili had everybody consuming out of the palm of his hand! He flipped from being the Belal Muhammad of the bantamweight division into having a whole enviornment frothing on the mouth to see him get what he’s lengthy deserved. UFC 298 someway turned his Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Michael Johnson second. We frequently throw out the cliche {that a} fighter was doing something they needed in there, however Dvalishvili was fairly actually doing something he needed in there. He clowned a former two-division king as simply as he would’ve sparring my 18-month-old son. Sooner or later between watching Dvalishvili peacock for a cageside Mark Zuckerberg and hoist an Olympic champ above his head to tug off the outdated Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg operating slam simply because he might, that struggle ceased being a mere struggle and reworked into precise theater. Cejudo ought to take into account himself fortunate that sucker didn’t have an additional 10 minutes tacked onto it, in any other case issues may’ve gotten genuinely embarrassing in there.
Coming into this previous week, I’d’ve wager some huge cash that nothing Dvalishvili might’ve completed at UFC 298 would’ve resulted in Dana White guaranteeing his subsequent struggle as a title shot within the post-fight presser. He’s just too unhealthy of a matchup for the division’s money cow and White nonetheless appeared to carry loads of resentment from his unwillingness to struggle his good friend Aljamain Sterling. But right here we’re: Dvalishvili is now tied with Sterling for the longest win streak within the historical past of the UFC bantamweight division, and White introduced Dvalishvili because the unequivocal subsequent man in line for the winner of O’Malley vs. Vera. Unbelievable.
Kudos to you, Merab. You compelled your method out of the MMA doghouse by way of sheer enjoyable and simple pressure of will. Another of us out right here could need to take notes…
5. Talking of that…
Look, I perceive what Ian Machado Garry is making an attempt to do proper now. He’s leaning into the hate. It’s actually all he can do contemplating the circumstances, so I don’t begrudge him for it. However after one other unusual week of grand proclamations adopted by ho-hum comply with by way of, I’m unsure if the good Irish hope is reaching “I Actually Need To See This Man Lose” kind of warmth or simply straight “Go Away” warmth. The previous will get you paid. The latter leads you to turning into the subsequent Belal. And hey, I’m no skilled, however getting booed out of the constructing all through your total struggle and post-fight interview, then defiantly marching as much as your post-fight press convention and appearing prefer it was essentially the most masterful win anybody has ever seen? That might not be the transfer in order for you the fan base to get behind your title run.
One of many largest issues folks are likely to overlook about Conor McGregor’s success is that his shtick labored, certain, however he was additionally must-see tv within the cage on his method up. Garry is a positive technician, however nobody goes to be dialing up UFC Struggle Move in 5 years to look at him circle round Geoff Neal and jab his approach to one other anticlimactic win. I even respect the Colby Covington callout — and if that’s not an choice, Sean Brady is a unbelievable Plan B — however nothing about what I noticed on Saturday dissuaded me from considering the way forward for welterweight belongs firmly in Shavkat Rakhmonov’s palms slightly than anybody else’s.
6. At this level, even Albert Einstein can be uninterested in dredging up his outdated definition of madness each time Mackenzie Dern fights.
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I wrote final week that if Dern was ever going to evolve previous this “nicely, if she will be able to work out a takedown or two, then look out” section of her profession, it wanted to begin at UFC 298. Shocker: It didn’t. And but, Saturday was the right illustration of why I simply can’t stop the jiu-jitsu phenom! Not solely does Dern stay a human cheat code on the mat, she clearly has energy in her palms, and can also be one of the inhumanely powerful folks on the planet. Hell, she survived by way of like three totally different knockouts in opposition to Amanda Lemos and someway practically received anyway along with her face wanting like a Jackson Pollock. She has sufficient instruments to be a world-beater. It simply by no means comes collectively in the best way you’d hope.
I used to be an early driver of the Dern bandwagon. I stubbornly held on by way of all the varied stops and begins, weight misses and turning-of-the-corners, failed pictures at competition and snapshots of chic brilliance. And but, right here I’m as soon as extra, recent off one other loss, doing it once more. There may be three folks nonetheless holding property on Dern Island — in opposition to my higher judgement, I’m someway one in all them. She’s nonetheless solely 30 years outdated and may win or lose in opposition to anybody on any given day. Simply, for the love of God, please, study a number of efficient entries into takedowns and grasp a double-leg in opposition to the fence to satisfy the potential that’s clearly in there earlier than the odometer on that obscene toughness runs out. Fights like Saturday’s are loopy to look at, however Dern’s window to develop into greater than that is quick closing.
(This complete part is such an all-time unhealthy take and I hate myself for it. Oy vey.)
7. The Tafa brothers’ short-notice switcheroo could not have paid off, however hey, the truth that it occurred in any respect continues to be a hilarious testomony to what makes MMA so distinctive and particular.
Give it some thought: In what different mainstream skilled sport might we see one thing like what Junior and Justin Tafa pulled off over the previous 48 hours? Seth Curry isn’t getting into Recreation 6 of the NBA Finals if Steph Curry immediately slips and falls on a cable wire. We’re not seeing Tiger Woods’ half-cousin fill in on day three of a serious if the PGA legend eats some unhealthy gasoline station sushi the evening earlier than. But the truth that, in 2024, greater than 30 years faraway from the anarchy of UFC 1, on the eve of a multi-million greenback evening for a multi-billion greenback trade, Junior Tafa can say “I gotchu bro” and step up and swing hammers at Marcos Rogerio de Lima instead of massive brother Justin simply because everybody type of unanimously decides, “nicely, this is able to truly be fairly rad” — it warms my chilly, jaded coronary heart.
MMA within the current day could also be miles faraway from its cowboy period roots, however generally the blood gods remind us that we’re all nonetheless the identical outdated lunatics at coronary heart. I find it irresistible.
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