Ilia Topuria stopped Alexander Volkanovski in the second round with a vicious KO to become the new UFC Featherweight Champion. In the process, he became the first fighter to hand Volkanovski a loss in the 145-pound division and only the fifth UFC Champion in featherweight history.
The difference in power was visible from the first round, with Topuria landing the cleaner and more powerful punches on Volkanovski since the very beginning of the fight. It was a matter of time before a perfectly timed punch flatlined Volkanovski in the second round.
HE IS KING 👑@TOPURIAILIA IS YOUR NEW FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD 🇪🇸🏆 🇬🇪 #UFC298 pic.twitter.com/eKRjZsP7yI
— UFC (@ufc) February 18, 2024
While Topuria celebrates his historic title win, the loss has put Volkanovski in a precarious situation. The former featherweight champion is now 1-3 in his last four fights, with two of those losses coming via knockout.
Alexander Volkanovski fails to beat the Over-35 curse
Can we finally start blaming the “over-35 curse” and “UFC cover curse” for Volkanovski’s sudden downfall?
While the sixth title defense would have been a historic achievement in itself, for many fight fans, including Michael Bisping, breaking the “over-35 curse” would have been equally great. However, Volkanovski did not set out to do the ordinary. The Australian fighter has already broken many records and will go down as one of the greatest featherweights ever.
Ilia Topuria defeats Volkanovski, giving him his first loss at featherweight in the UFC improving to 16-0
“the over-35 curse” that refers to a remarkable, true stat: Male UFC fighters age 35 or older is now at 0-15 at 155 or below.#iliatopuria #ufc298 #alexandervolkanovski pic.twitter.com/du8GObrUBb
— The House Call Sports (@TheHouseCallPod) February 18, 2024
Purely by the numbers, Volkanovski failed to do what so many fighters couldn’t achieve in their UFC careers. If we take a look at the UFC’s bantamweight division, all the way to the lightweight division, no fighter over the age of 35 has won a title fight. At 35 years old, this was a clear sign that Volkanovski’s prime years may be behind him now, and going by the statistics, there’s minimal possibility that Volkanovski will lift the UFC title again.
Only Tyron Woodley has won a title fight and has done it twice, being over 35 years of age during his welterweight title reign.
