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Attempting to become the first fighter inside the Octagon to beat Alexander Volkanovski at the featherweight limit – incoming title challenger, Ilia Topuria was heckled with boos throughout tonight’s UFC 298 press conference in Anaheim, before he was corralled by security officials after snatching the Australian’s title belt from his desk.

Topuria, the current number three ranked featherweight contender, headlines his first flagship event this weekend in California, competing for Octagon spoils for the first time in a grudge fight with undisputed gold holder, Volkanovski.

And receiving flak for his barsh bravado in the weeks ahead of his championship outing, Topuira – sporting a three-piece suit, vowed to “humble” Volkanovski during their UFC 298 title fight, in front of a raucous crowd who booed the Spaniard throughout his showing at the presser.

Ilia Topuria grabs title from Alexander Volkanovski

Promising an opening round KO win over New South Wales native, Volkanovski – who has never been beaten at the featherweight limit since his move to the Dana White-led UFC, Topuria snatched the title belt from the desk of the incumbent during the press conference, leading to a heated coming together, before security officials corralled the duo.

Sidelined since last summer, Topuria, who is closing as a slight betting underdog to beat Volkanovski at UFC 298 this weekend, most recently capped off his unbeaten run with a fourteenth consecutive win, in the form of a decision shutout against Josh Emmett.

Facing off with former two-time lightweight title chaser, Volkanovski – who was sporting his “old man” garb to tonight’s festivities, Ilia Topuria was booed and jeered off stage by the attending fans – as he looks to dawn a new era at the featherweight limt, and spawn a fresh undisputed title reign for the first time in five years. 

Who wins at UFC 298: Alexander Volkanovski or Ilia Topuria?

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On the fourth episode of UFC 298 Embedded, Merab Dvalishvili offers Aljamain Sterling a new job, Paulo Costa practices his head kicks, chef Alexander Volkanovski cooks his whole team a meal, Robert Whittaker chops it up with Ian Garry Machado and Michael Bisping, Ilia Topuria has a run-in with the champ, and more.

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A colossal bout in the middleweight division serves as Saturday’s UFC 298 co-main event.  Former champion and third-ranked contender Robert Whittaker looks to bounce back from a TKO loss to Dricus Du Plessis in his last fight when he faces sixth-ranked knockout artist Paulo Costa.  

Whittaker (24-7) won the 185-pound interim championship by defeating Yoel Romero by unanimous decision at UFC 213 in July 2017.  The title was later elevated to the undisputed championship.  Romero missed weight for the immediate rematch and was defeated by Whittaker a second time.  

Due to Romero missing weight by 2 tenths of a pound, Whittaker never technically defended the belt.  He lost to Israel Adesanya in his next fight and he’s been trying to get back to the top ever since.    

Costa (14-2) hasn’t fought since August 2022 when he beat former champion Luke Rockhold via decision.  He’s currently ranked sixth in the division and expects to jump into a title fight with a win over the third-ranked Whittaker.  

“I don’t see all the way different than that going straight for the belt after beating Whittaker Saturday,” Costa said during the UFC 298 Media Day.  “I have no other way to go.  I think, after beat him, if you look at the whole division you have a popular guy who fights the way that people want to see that people like to see the fights going on it’s me.  So beating him, I’ll be next in line.”

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A familiar face will be the third man in the cage for UFC 298’s main event.

Veteran referee Jason Herzog has been selected to oversee the featherweight title bout between UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski and undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria.

The three judges scoring the contest are also familiar names: Ron McCarthy, Derek Cleary, and Sal D’Amato.

UFC 298 takes place Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

The California State Athletic Commission provided the event’s judging and referee assignments to MMA Fighting on Thursday.

Volkanovski, 35, seeks to become the oldest champion in UFC history under 170 pounds to successfully defend his title when he meet Topuria, 27, in the night’s main event. In total, Volkanovski (26-3) has notched five defense of his belt and posted an unbeaten 11-0 run at featherweight in the promotion, but dropped two of his past three bouts to Islam Makhachev in failed attempts at capturing the UFC lightweight title. Topuria (14-0) has won all six of his UFC appearances and last dominated Josh Emmett in a June title eliminator.

Notably, referee Mike Beltran is set to oversee UFC 298’s co-headlining bout between former champion Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa, with the trio of Ron McCarthy, Eliot Kelly, and Michael Bell assigned to serve as judges for the middleweight matchup.

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