The no.3 ranked UFC featherweight, Ilia Topuria is gearing up to fight the featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. Topuria has been on an absolute tear ever since joining the promotion, winning 6 straight to secure a shot at the title. However, Volkanovski seems unimpressed by the Georgian’s exploits. Interestingly, a former champion has now warned ‘The Great’ against underestimating his challenger.

Going into the fight, there are plenty of people who seem to believe that the up-and-coming prospect has a chance to beat the Australian, given ‘El Matador’s performances leading up to the title fight at UFC 298. UFC Hall of Famer and former middleweight champion, Michael Bisping seems to believe the same.

Michael Bisping praises Ilia Topuria ahead of UFC 288

In a recent YouTube video, ‘The Count’ had plenty of good things to say about Ilia Topuria. Bisping went on to state that the UFC featherweight was really good, claiming that he is one of the best boxers on the current UFC roster. He praised the 27-year-old’s performance against Josh Emmett, as he said, “I mean, if you just look at Topuria’s last fight against Josh, I mean, listen, Josh Emmett is a ridiculously hard hitter, but he’s not exactly Floyd Mayweather. I don’t mean that as an insult.”

“He’s a tremendous wrestler and mixed martial artist, but the hands are good, they’re powerful. They’re strong, and they’re dangerous. I mean, the way he knocked out Bryce Mitchell, that was sickening again, absolutely flatlined him but he kind of loads up and he swings. He could not touch a glove on Ilia Topuria,” said Bisping.

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The Englishman pointed out the beauty in the way Topuria moves inside the octagon. From the way ‘El Matador’ uses his footwork, to his jabs and his faints, the UFC legend could not seem to help himself be a fan of the Spaniard. Bisping had pretty high praise for Topuria, as he said, “He glides around the Octagon. The man is poetry in motion and let me tell you, he hits hard.”

Despite there being a surprisingly large number of people who believe that Topuria has what it takes to beat the UFC featherweight champion, Volkanovski is still confident that he has the puzzle figured out to beat the undefeated prospect.

Alexander Volkanovski on why he’s confident coming into the fight against ‘El Matador’

Alexander Volkanovski, during a recent media interview, oozed with confidence, talking about his upcoming fight against Ilia Topuria. He stated that there were strategies that he and his team were working on that would nullify the challengers’ game. The featherweight champion does seem to understand Topuria’s strengths but believes that the fight will go his way as he would make ‘El Matador’ fight his fight.

“If he ever gets to that point where he’s going to be a champion or a great champion, he needs me to do what I plan on doing to him. I’m going to give him a good humbling and maybe he can bounce back after that, learn a thing or two and we’ll see what happens from there,” said Volkanovski, implying that he would humble the undefeated prospect.

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Given how close of a matchup the fight between Volkanovski and Topuria is playing out, who would you bet on to win the fight? Let us know your pick in the comments section below.

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