Topuria defeats Volkanovski in 2nd assault and is crowned

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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ilia Topuria maintained her undefeated status by defeating Alexander Volkanovski in the second round to capture the featherweight title Saturday at UFC 298.

Topuria (15-0) thus ended the four-year reign of the Australian Volkanovski.

The Georgian, who lives and trains in Spain, controlled the opening round of his first UFC title fight with accurate strikes. He repeated the dose in the second to knock out his 35-year-old rival with 1:28 left.

He improved to 7-0 since 2020, when he joined the UFC.

In other fights, middleweight champion Robert Whittaker won a unanimous decision over Brazilian Paulo Costa, and Ian Garry did the same over Geoff Neal.