See The Fight Results, Watch Post-Fight Interviews With The Main Card Winners And More From UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria, Live From Honda Center In Anaheim.
Anaheim has become the place where new champions are crowned inside the Octagon.
There have now been nine title fights at Honda Center over the years, and in eight of those instances, the incumbent was dethroned, including Saturday night at UFC 298, where Ilia Topuria ended the reign of Alexander Volkanovski and ascended to the top of the 145-pound weight class.
It was an incredible end to an outstanding main card that featured a collection of incredibly important battles, and we’ve got all the details for you below. | Prelim Results
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria Results
- Ilia Topuria def. Alexander Volkanovski by KO (right hand) at 3:32 of Round 2
- Robert Whittaker defeats Paulo Costa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Ian Machado Garry defeats Geoff Neal by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
- Merab Dvalishvili defeats Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Anthony Hernandez defeats Roman Kopylov by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:23 of Round 2
- Amanda Lemos defeats Mackenzie Dern by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima defeats Junior Tafa by TKO (low kick) at 1:14 of Round 2
- Rinya Nakamura defeats Carlos Vera by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Zhang Mingyang defeats Brendson Ribeiro by KO (left hand) at 1:41 of Round 1
- Danny Barlow defeats Josh Quinlan by TKO (strikes) at 1:18 of Round 3
- Oban Elliott defeats Val Woodburn by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Miranda Maverick defeats Andrea Lee by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria Main Card Results
Anthony Hernandez defeats Roman Kopylov by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:23 of Round 2
- Make it five straight for Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez.
- The unrelenting Californian middleweight took the best Roman Kopylov had to offer and kept coming forward, ultimately dragging the streaking Russian to the canvas and sinking in the rear-naked choke. Hernandez turned the tides in the second round after getting hit with multiple clean, heavy shots, smiling at Kopylov and waving him on, and from there, it was all Hernandez.
- After an uneven start to his UFC tenure, the skilled middleweight has now collected five straight wins, including three consecutive finishes. He’s on an outstanding run and should get another showcase opportunity next time out.
Merab Dvalishvili defeats Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- The clash of bantamweight contenders was every bit as competitive and entertaining as expected as Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo going 15 minutes at a break-neck pace.
- There were few moments of inactivity in this one, as if the 135-pound contenders weren’t trading strikes and looking for angles, they were clinched, grappling, and grinding. While Cejudo started well, the pace and pressure of Dvalishvili took over in the second round, taking the wind out of the former two-division champion’s sails.
- When the scores were added up, “The Machine” emerged victorious, securing his 10th consecutive win and third straight triumph over a former bantamweight champ. The 33-year-old Georgian has to be considered the No. 1 contender at this point, and will surely be watching next month’s title clash very closely.
Ian Machado Garry defeats Geoff Neal by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
- The meeting between Top 10 welterweights Ian Machado Garry and Geoff Neal was the closest of the night, with no quarter asked and none given on either side.
- Contested exclusively on the feet, the ranked standouts traded throughout, Neal utilizing good punches, inside especially, with Machado Garry offering more volume and a greater variety of attacks. Neither man had any moments where they took decisive control of any frame — it was simply a competitive give-and-take as expected that highlighted how skilled each of these two are inside the Octagon.
- The judges were tasked with the determining the victor and when the nines and tens were added up, it was Machado Garry that emerged victorious. This was the 26-year-old’s toughest test to date and he passed without any real issue, moving to 7-0 in the UFC and 14-0 overall with the win.
Co-Main Event: Robert Whittaker defeats Paulo Costa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Saturday’s co-main event clash between middleweight contenders Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa was an “edge of your seat” battle from the outset, engaging in an early entrant in the Fight of the Year race.
- The opening five minutes was a straight give-and-take for the majority of the round, with Costa punctuating things with a spinning heel kick that landed flush and wobbled Whittaker. The Australian former champion responded in the second, continuing to out-land Costa while mixing between the lead leg and the head. In the third, Whittaker upped the output in the second half and continued to connect at a greater clip than Costa, right through to the final horn.
- This was a tremendous competitive and entertaining battle that affirmed each man’s standing as serious threats in the 185-pound ranks. When the scores were read aloud, it was Whittaker that came out ahead, earning a clean sweep of the cards to get himself back in the win column to start the year.
Main Event: Ilia Topuria defeats Alexander Volkanovski by KO (right hand) at 3:32 of Round 2
- Ilia Topuria is your new featherweight champion!
- For the entirety of the fight, the undefeated challenger stalked the champion, looking for an opening to land a devastating shot that ended the fight in a hurry. He just missed a couple of times during the first and through the midway point of the second, but late in the frame, as the two men got into close quarters along the fence — BOOM!
- A right hand found the chin and put Alexander Volkanovski out cold, ushering a new era in the UFC featherweight division.
- Just an absolutely tremendous performance from the confident, unbeaten Spaniard, who becomes the sixth undisputed champion to sit on the throne in the 145-pound weight class.
- Don’t miss a moment of UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria, live from Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Prelims start at 8pm ET/5pm PT, while the main card kicks off live on PPV at 10pm ET/7pm PT.
