On February 18, in the main event of UFC 298 in Anaheim, USA, Volkanovski lost to Topuria by knockout in the second round and lost his belt in the featherweight division. Whittaker won on points against Paulo Costa in the same event.
“I saw fragments of the end of the fight. Topuria has excellent boxing, very good boxing. These are the rules of our game. One fighter wins, the other loses. Alex has been at the top for a long time. He is probably the most dominant champion in featherweight history,” Whittaker said at a press conference.