ANAHEIM (AP) – Ilia Topuria boldly declared himself a UFC world champion in his social media biography for months before he actually became the first Georgian to win a title.
When Topuria finally got the belt strapped around his waist at UFC 298 yesterday, he cried at the feeling of dreams coming true.
Topuria stopped Alexander Volkanovski in the second round to claim the featherweight title, ending the Australian champion’s four-year reign with a devastating series of strikes.
Topuria (15-0), who lives and trains in Spain, controlled the first round of his first UFC title fight with sharp punching before he sensationally finished off Volkanovski with more of the same.
Earlier, former two-division UFC champion Cejudo dropped to 0-2 in his comeback bid with a unanimous-decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili. Cejudo had previously said he would retire again if he lost the bout.
“Today is a historic moment for the country of Georgia,” said Georgian bantamweight Dvalishvili.
“Everybody woke up early. Every restaurant was booked. They were watching in stadiums. They’re celebrating now all night”, he said.
Cejudo, the former United States Olympic wrestling gold medalist and UFC champ at flyweight and bantamweight, curiously retired at the height of his MMA reign in 2020. Now 37, he began his comeback last May with a loss to Aljamain Sterling.
Meanwhile, Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker won a unanimous decision over Paulo Costa in the penultimate bout of the mixed martial arts promotion’s first pay-per-view show in Southern California in more than two years.
