Ilia Topuria Reveals Why He Won’t Put His Hands on Alexander Volkanovski Again

IliaTopuria knocked out "The Great" at UFC 298 to capture the UFC featherweight strap and then, at UFC 308, became the first man to knock out Max Holloway. After just one title defense, "El Matador" moved up to lightweight and on his debut at UFC 317, sent Charles Oliveira to the shadow realm to become the reigning undisputed lightweight champion.

Volkanovski, on the other hand, became a two-time featherweight champion after Ilia Topuria departed from the 145-pound division. "The Great" reclaimed the title by defeating Diego Lopes at UFC 314. The Aussie has since defended his belt twice during his second reign. Most recently, Volk knocked out Movsar Evloev at UFC 333, proving that even at 38, he still has plenty left in the tank and that his prime is far from over.

Topuria, meanwhile, lost his lightweight strap to Justin Gathje at the White House. The 29-year-old took heavy damage in his fight with "The Highlight" and has been on the sidelines after the title loss, recovering and building back.

Alexander Volkanovski Recently Showed Interest in Fighting Topuria Again 

After knocking out Movsar Evloev, Alexander Volkanovski expressed interest in vacating his featherweight title and moving up to challenge Justin Gaethje. "The Great" also showed interest in running it back with Topuria, adding that Gaethje took Topuria's undefeated record, but he still would love to beat the 29 year old and "get that win back."

However, the Georgian-Spaniard knockout artist has no desire to fight Volkanovski again, given the immense respect he has for the Australian.

Why Topuria Doesn't want to Fight "The Great" Again

Ilia Topuria told Alvaro Colmenero that although he beat "The Great" once, it does not mean the latter cannot beat him in a rematch. He also called Volkanovski the "best featherweight in history" while also admitting that the two-time 145-pound champ has "accomplished much more" than him. 

 "Honestly, I respect him so much, and I've grown so fond of him that I couldn't hit him. It would be a very competitive fight. Just because I beat him once doesn't mean he can't beat me. For me personally, he's the best featherweight in history, above everyone. Yes, I beat him. I beat Max Holloway. I did things nobody else had done. But looking at his record over all those years, he's accomplished much more than I have."

Check out Ilia Topuria's comments about Alexander Volkanovski below: