Ilia Topuria secures featherweight title at UFC 298

Ilia Topuria became the new featherweight champion on Saturday night, knocking out Alexander Volkanovski during their main event bout at UFC 298 in Anaheim, Calif.

Topuria (14-0-0) took the belt from Volkanovski (26-3-0) by sending him to the mat with a punch to the neck area at 3:32 of the second round. It marked Topuria's first victory since June 24, 2023, when he defeated Josh Emmett by unanimous decision.

Volkanovski has now dropped back-to-back fights and three of his past four.

In other action Saturday, Robert Whittaker (26-7-0) bested Paulo Costa (14-3-0) by unanimous decision in middleweight action. The cards read 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.

Ian Machado Garry (14-0-0) won by split decision in a welterweight bout, Merab Dvalishvili (17-4-0) prevailed by unanimous decision in a bantamweight fight and Anthony Hernandez (12-2-0) was victorious via submission in a middleweight battle.