| UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | February 17, 2024 | |||
| Venue | Honda Center | |||
| City | Anaheim, California, United States | |||
| Attendance | 18,186 [1] | |||
| Total gate | $7,264,734 [1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 17, 2024, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, United States. [2]
The event marked the promotion's tenth visit to Anaheim and first since UFC 270 in January 2022. [2]
A UFC Featherweight Championship bout between current champion Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria headlined the event. [3] This bout was originally expected to headline UFC 297 one month prior but was pushed back after Volkanovski was pulled to face UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 294. [4] [5]
A light heavyweight bout between Zhang Mingyang and Brendson Ribeiro was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Gutiérrez. [6] However, the bout was postponed due to the event's change of location and fighters facing visa issues and it was rescheduled to take place this event. [7] [8]
A middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) Robert Whittaker and former title challenger Paulo Costa took place at the event. [9] The pair was previously expected to headline UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum in April 2021, but Costa withdrew due to illness. [10] They were also expected to meet at UFC 284 in February 2023, but Costa disputed the official announcement by the promotion indicating he had never signed a contract and the fight would not take place. [11] [12] [13]
A welterweight bout between Ian Machado Garry and Geoff Neal took place at the event. [14] They were previously booked for UFC 292 in August 2023, but Neal withdrew due to undisclosed health reasons. [15] They were also scheduled for UFC 299 but were moved to this event for unknown reasons. [16]
A welterweight bout between Yusaku Kinoshita and Danny Barlow was scheduled for the event. [17] However, Kinoshita was removed from event for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Josh Quinlan. [18]
A heavyweight bout between Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura was scheduled for this event. [19] However, the bout was moved to headline at UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura on March 16. [20]
A women's strawweight bout between former UFC Women's Strawweight Championship challenger Amanda Lemos and The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia strawweight winner Tatiana Suarez was scheduled for the event. [21] However, Suarez withdrew from the event due to injury and was replaced by Mackenzie Dern. [22]
Road to UFC Season 1 bantamweight winner Rinya Nakamura was scheduled to face Brady Hiestand in a bantamweight bout. [23] However, Hiestand pulled out due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Carlos Vera, who had previously competed on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter the year prior. [24]
A middleweight bout between former LFA Middleweight Champion Anthony Hernandez and Ikram Aliskerov was expected to take place at the event. [25] However, Aliskerov withdrew due to compilations related to an illness and was replaced by Roman Kopylov. [26] The pair was originally expected to take place at UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 the year prior after Kopylov served as a replacement to Hernandez's original opponent Chris Curtis, but Hernandez pulled out of the event and the bout never materialized. [27] [28]
Tresean Gore was expected to face A.J. Dobson in a middleweight bout at the event. [29] However on February 7, Gore pulled out due to a shoulder injury and the bout was scrapped. [30] [31]
A heavyweight bout between Justin Tafa and Marcos Rogério de Lima was expected to take place at the event. [32] However, Tafa withdrew the day before the event due to injury. [33] He was replaced by his brother Junior Tafa. [34]
During the event's broadcast, former PRIDE Middleweight Champion and 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion (also a former UFC Light Heavyweight Championship challenger) Wanderlei Silva was announced as the next "pioneer wing" UFC Hall of Fame inductee during June's International Fight Week festivities in Las Vegas. [35]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Ilia Topuria | def. | Alexander Volkanovski (c) | KO (punch) | 2 | 3:32 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Middleweight | Robert Whittaker | def. | Paulo Costa | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Ian Machado Garry | def. | Geoff Neal | Decision (split) (30–27, 28–29, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Merab Dvalishvili | def. | Henry Cejudo | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Anthony Hernandez | def. | Roman Kopylov | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 3:23 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Women's Strawweight | Amanda Lemos | def. | Mackenzie Dern | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Marcos Rogério de Lima | def. | Junior Tafa | TKO (leg kick and punches) | 2 | 1:14 | |
| Bantamweight | Rinya Nakamura | def. | Carlos Vera | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Zhang Mingyang | def. | Brendson Ribeiro | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:41 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Welterweight | Danny Barlow | def. | Josh Quinlan | TKO (punches) | 3 | 1:18 | |
| Welterweight | Oban Elliott | def. | Val Woodburn | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Miranda Maverick | def. | Andrea Lee | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. [37]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as released by the California State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. [38]
Alexander Volkanovski is an Australian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Featherweight Champion. He is also a former Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) Featherweight champion. Prior to his UFC debut, Volkanovski competed as a professional boxer in 2015. As of 20 February 2024, he is #1 in UFC featherweight rankings and #7 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 7, 2020 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
Justin Tafa is a New Zealand professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Anthony Hernandez is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2014, he has also competed with Global Knockout and Legacy Fighting Alliance. As of February 20, 2024, he is #13 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 26, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
UFC 260: Miocic vs. Ngannou 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 27, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
Ilia Topuria is a Georgian and Spanish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) where he officially represents his native Georgia. As of February 18, 2024, he is the undefeated UFC Featherweight Champion.
UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 25, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
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UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2023, at RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia.
UFC 290: Volkanovski vs. Rodríguez was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 8, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena facility in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 24, 2023 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States.
UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 16, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
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