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Ilia Topuria’s Brother Gets Alexander Volkanovski’s Teammate As Replacement Opponent For UFC 312

UFC debutant Aleksandre Topuria has a new opponent to prepare for, and one that could re-spark the rivalry between his brother Ilia and Alexander Volkanovski. While plenty of attention has been on Ilia’s impressive rise to championship glory at 145 pounds in the UFC, his sibling has been working away himself, looking to parve his […]

UFC debutant Aleksandre Topuria has a new opponent to prepare for, and one that could re-spark the rivalry between his brother Ilia and Alexander Volkanovski.

While plenty of attention has been on Ilia’s impressive rise to championship glory at 145 pounds in the UFC, his sibling has been working away himself, looking to parve his own path to mixed martial arts’ biggest stage.

And after signing with the promotion, Aleksandre’s debut was announced for UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia early next month. Originally, the 5-1 bantamweight prospect was set to face Cody Haddon. But with an injury ruling him out, Topuria’s new first matchup brings with it a backstory.

Per a report from Spanish journalist Álvaro Colmenero, “El Cazador” is now set to share the cage with the undefeated Colby Thicknesse on Feb. 8. Interestingly, as well as being a HEC champion, the Australian is a teammate of Volkanovski’s.

Ilia knocked Volkanovski out in Anaheim almost 12 months ago to capture the featherweight gold. After repeating that violent feat at the expense of Max Holloway last October, many are expecting the Spaniard to run it back with “Alexander the Great” in 2025.

Another occasional training partner of the ex-champ’s, City Kickboxing standout Dan Hooker, also recently claimed that Topuria turned down a defense against Volkanovski for UFC 313 in March due to a need for longer to make the weight.

It remains to be seen whether Ilia and his Aussie rival will renew hostilities inside the cage. For now, though, they’ll be preparing for a different team Topuria vs. team Volkanovski battle at UFC 312.

Dan Hooker Claims Ilia Topuria Rejected Alexander Volkanovski Rematch For UFC 313 Due To Weight Cut Demand

According to lightweight contender Dan Hooker, plans for Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski to run it back this March fell through due to the UFC featherweight champion’s inability to make the weight. Hooker recently had his return to action confirmed for UFC 313 in Las Vegas on March 8, where he’ll collide with former interim […]

Hooker recently had his return to action confirmed for UFC 313 in Las Vegas on March 8, where he’ll collide with former interim champion Justin Gaethje in a sure-fire banger.

The event looks set to be a stacked one, with light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira defending his gold in the main event opposite top contender Magomed Ankalaev.

As it turns out, though, another high-profile title clash could have found itself on the lineup.

During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Hooker asserted that occasional teammate and fellow Oceanian fighter Volkanovski agreed to run it back with Topuria in competition for the 145-pound strap he formerly owned. But according to “The Hangman,” the Spaniard allegedly requested half-a-year to drop the pounds.

“They wanted to put Volk and Ilia on the (UFC 313) card as well but Ilia said he needs six months to make weight or something. I’m like, ‘Bro, what?’”

Volkanovski was quick to outline his plans to secure redemption against Topuria after being knocked out by “El Matador” 11 months ago.

While the reigning champ pointed toward that rematch being his next assignment after defending the belt versus Max Holloway in October, he’s since discussed a lightweight move.

Topuria’s coach has also added context to those plans by outlining the increasing difficult his man is having making the featherweight limit, perhaps adding some supportive evidence behind Hooker’s claim.

Patricio Pitbull Sets Sights On Former UFC Featherweight Champion Following Long-Awaited PFL Release

Patrício Pitbull is now officially a free agent after being granted his release from the PFL. The Bellator featherweight champion has been very vocal about wanting to leave the promotion in recent months after a breakdown in communications with the promotion and he has finally been granted his wish. The Brazilian is a legend of […]

The Brazilian is a legend of the Bellator promotion but with that brand now officially dead, he realizes that he doesn’t have long left to tick off some bucket list items in his career. At 37-years old, he has recently spoken about dreaming of getting to fight in the UFC before he hangs up the gloves for good.

As a 30-fight veteran in Bellator with the most fights, wins and finishes in the history of the promotion, it didn’t ever look like we would see him step inside the Octagon but that is quite clearly the destination which he hopes to arrive at in the coming days, weeks or months. In fact, shortly after PFL founder Donn Davis announced the news that Pitbull would be parting ways with the promotion, the Brazilian had already set his sights on a potential opponent.

It appears that whilst he has spent a lot of time talking about a move to lightweight coming sooner rather than later, UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will face former champ Alexander Volkanovski in a rematch which he agreed to after being joined in the cage by “The Great” following his win over Max Holloway last October. Given the fact that Pitbull is towards the end of his career, it makes sense for him to jump in at the deep end against the best 145-pounders that the UFC has to offer.

If the rematch doesn’t take place in the near future for whatever reason, Pitbull would like to share the cage with Volkanovski in a dream fight that no one would have seen coming several years ago.

Hi @alexvolkanovski

— Patricio Pitbull (@PatricioPitbull) January 15, 2025

10 UFC Fights We Want to See in 2025

It’s just been just shy of three weeks since Joaquin Buckley busted up Colby Covington in the most recent UFC fight. As is often the case when the promotion…

Alexander Volkanovski Lists His Top Five MMA GOATs with ‘Mighty Mouse’ At Number One

Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson tops Alexander Volkanovski’s list of the top five greatest mixed martial artists of all time….

Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson tops Alexander Volkanovski’s list of the top five greatest mixed martial artists of all time.

During a recent Q&A session on YouTube to celebrate the end of 2024, Volkanovski fielded questions from fight fans with one of them asking ‘The Great’ who he sees as the best of the best.

“All right, let’s get into it. I’m going to say, Demetrious Johnson,” Volkanovski began.

“I’m going to have to throw Jon Jones in there,” he continued. “Everyone knows my take on, you know, the trouble outside of it, but I mean, he’s just been champ, he’s been at the top forever, you know what I mean? So you can’t not include him. I know a lot of people are always going to throw out those things—and I do myself—because, you know, I pride myself on trying to stay away from all that crap as well. But you can’t deny his skill. He’s definitely one of the greatest of all time, so you’re going to have to give Jon Jones that.

“So, Demetrius Johnson, Jon Jones… yeah, Georges St-Pierre has definitely got to be there.

Alexander volkanovski adds Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya to his MMA top five

Rounding out Volk’s list were inarguably the two best middleweight fighters in the history of the sport.

“And we’re running out of room! So, I said Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre… I’m going to have to throw Anderson Silva in there as well,” Volkanovski continued. “For me, when it comes to striking, I honestly think he’s the greatest striker the UFC’s ever seen.

So, um, I’m going to go Israel Adesanya as well. Am I missing someone? Who is it? Like, oh, you’ve got your options—you obviously have so many great champions. But that’s it! I said five. There you go. Let us know your five! Let us know what you think of my five. Locked it in. Locked it in!”

Do you agree with Alexander Volkanovski’s top five? If not, who should be added? Or more importantly, who should be removed?

Alexander Volkanovski Names The One Trait He Would Take From Another Fighter

Throughout his long reign as the featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski proved himself to be one of the most well-rounded fighters that we have ever seen in the UFC. His striking has always been his strongest attribute, as seen in his three wins over a fellow all-time great in Max Holloway. His grappling has also been […]

His grappling has also been incredibly effective whether it was offensively against the likes of Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez or defensively like in his first meeting with Islam Makhachev at UFC 284. However, in a recent Q&A video on his YouTube channel, “The Great” was asked an interesting question.

When debating what attribute he would take from another fighter to improve his own game, Volkanovski looked outside the box because he is already totally confident in his skills as a mixed martial artist and his athletic ability.

“I was going to say just pick a young fighter and be 18 again.”

Volkanovski ended up going with one key factor in combat sports that can’t be significantly improved no matter how much training you put in. In his fourth pro fight, the former champion suffered the first loss of his career as he was stopped by Corey Nelson back in 2013 at Australian FC 5.

He would then go another 24 fights before he would be finished by another opponent. Now, with three knockout losses on his record, Volkanovski has been stopped in back-to-back fights following his defeats to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.

The 36-year old seemingly took this into consideration when giving his answer, under the belief that this additional attribute would make it so much harder to opponents to come out on top against him.

“I mean who’s got, I mean Max had the chin and I still think like that would still be a crazy chin. But I’d say yeah, chin, cuz that’s how I’ve always looked at it. This is how it’s always been for me going through my career. You always know that someone can catch you, that’s just the game. I’ve always said it’s going to be hard for somebody to actually beat me. I mean Islam had that very close fight, that first one. So there’s only very, very few, if any, that can take me to a decision and beat me that way. Obviously you could say Islam did, it was a very close fight but I’ve always said that anyone can catch you, right… If you could sit there and have the chin where you take away that only opportunity for someone to beat ya, you’re going to be pretty hard to beat, that’s for sure.”