Dan Hooker doesn’t think Ilia Topuria’s KO of Alexander Volkanovski is all what’s it cracked up to be.
The UFC Featherweight Champion’s one of the biggest stars in the sport today, earning millions of fans upon knocking out Volkanovski and Max Holloway in back-to-back title fights.
Ilia Topuria won the title at 27 years old, pulverizing Volkanovski with punches in the second round of the UFC 298 main event. This would be Volkanovski’s first-ever loss at featherweight, ending a 1,521-day title reign for ‘The Great’.
Alexander Volkanovski has lost in the UFC before, twice at the hands of lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the division above.
Dan Hooker pins Alexander Volkanovski’s title loss to Ilia Topuria on quick turnaround
Four months prior to fighting Topuria in February 2024, Volkanovski had been knocked out by Makhachev with a headkick in their rematch at UFC 294.
KO’ed in October, that wouldn’t stop Volkanovski from making a quick turnaround in February, leading Hooker to believe it led to his teammate’s demise.
“I feel like he just turned too quickly around from the Islam Makhachev fight,” Hooker said of Volkanovski on Sky Sport.
“I don’t think Ilia Topuria did anything that incredible,” Hooker added.
“I feel like [Volkanovski] just fought, and I’ve been there. When I fought Paul Felder and then I fought Dustin Poirier kinda back-to-back and then rushed into the Michael Chandler fight.
It’s not like Michael Chandler did anything that was lightning incredible.”
Alexander Volkanovski ‘needed a bit more time’ to recover from Islam Makhachev KO
Hooker referenced a previous KO loss to Michael Chandler which took place months after his five-round war with Dustin Poirier. The UFC lightweight veteran says the body can only take so much punishment before it needs time to fully recoup – especially if you’re fighting five round fights.
For Alexander Volkanovski, Diego Lopes at UFC 314 will be his tenth five-round fight in a row, this time for the vacant featherweight title, left behind by Ilia Topuria, who’s moving up to lightweight.
Hooker believes the wear-and-tear caught up to Volkanovski at UFC 298.
“It takes longer to recover from a five round fight,” Hooker said.
“Especially what Volkanovski has been going through five-round championship training camps and just putting them so consistently because he has been one of the most consistent champions for the UFC stepping up to the plate, fighting, jumping in on short notice…
“He just needed a bit more time between these fights to let his body fully recover,” Hooker said of Volkanovski after the Makhachev loss.
