ANAHEIM, Feb 18, (AP): Unbeaten Ilia Topuria stopped Alexander Volkanovski in the second round to claim the featherweight title at UFC 298, ending the Australian champion's four-year reign.
Topuria (15-0), a Georgian who lives and trains in Spain, controlled the first round of his first UFC title fight with sharp striking before he sensationally finished off Volkanovski with more of the same.

Topuria staggered the 35-year-old Volkanovski to the cage with a left-right combination before putting him on the canvas with a perfect right hand followed by a big left. Topuria finished the stunned champion on the ground with 1:28 left, improving to 7-0 since joining the UFC in late 2020.
"I feel so happy right now,” Topuria said. "They told me I couldn't do it. ... Just trust yourself, and anything is possible. Just look at me now.”

Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker won a unanimous decision over Paulo Costa in the penultimate bout of the UFC’s first pay-per-view show in Southern California in more than two years.
Volkanovski (26-4) had made five consecutive successful title defenses since winning his belt in late 2019, but his reign ended with his first featherweight loss in UFC competition. Volkanovski also lost twice in the past year to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in a failed bid to become a two-division champ, and he didn't show his usual relentless work rate against Topuria before the fight abruptly ended.