On February 17 at the UFC 298 tournament in Anaheim, USA, the Australian lost to Ilia Topuria by unanimous decision and was stripped of his title.
“You can’t always win. Last night I felt great. I think I took the first round, started to gain momentum in the second, but he did a great job pushing me to the net and catching me with a shot.
Next time everything will be different. I'll take a break, I need to rest a little. I want revenge in Spain. Obviously, this will not happen before the end of the year. So it's time to spend time with your family, relax, and then come back and do your work. Remember my words: in the next fight I will do everything right and regain the title,” Volkanovski said in the latest release of his YouTube channel.