Topuria opted to leave his 145-pound title behind for a move up to lightweight. As a result, Volkanovski (26-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) will battle Diego Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for the vacant title in Saturday’s UFC 314 main event ( ESPN+ pay-per-view) at Kaseya Center from Miami.

Alexander Volkanvoski has given a fascinating breakdown of Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria. In his esteemed career, ‘The Great’ has shown so much heart, overcoming many a hurdle to win a plethora of big fights. The ‘lights started dimming’ when Brian Ortega put Volkanovski in a guillotine, yet the Australian somehow survived.

With the prior knowledge of facing both, incoming UFC 315 headliner, Alexander Volkanovski has boldly claimed Ilia Topuria will end the lightweight run of