Dana White: “Topuria has a lot to prove.”

“You can take any statistic you want, but Topuria has no big fight experience – this is his first big name and first big fight,” MMA News quoted the organization’s chief as saying. “As tough as Topuria is, he still has a lot to prove. When you’re undefeated, you don’t know the bitterness of defeat, and you’re on the rise, that’s how you have to think and have that mentality. But we’ll see how things play out this weekend.”

The featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Elijah Topuria will headline this weekend’s UFC 298 event in Anaheim, however, the Spanish-Georgian fighter has already declared himself the division’s new champion on his social media accounts, recording his fifteenth professional victory.