Alexander Volkanovski came to his UFC 298 pre-fight press conference dressed as an old man, complete with a beige pull-over, flat cap, and stringed spectacles. This, of course, was Volkanovski owning the insult his upcoming opponent the promising, undefeated Ilia Topuria has levied against him.

Topuria, who is confident of victory, has repeatedly claimed that the featherweight champion is too old and suggested he retire. While the trash-talk seems not to have affected the Aussie, there are some valid causes for concerns given his last outing in the octagon. As Volkanovski gears up to make his sixth title defense, we take a look at Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier‘s thoughts about the fight.

‘DC’ and Joe Rogan think Volkanovski fighting too soon

On episode #150 of the JRE MMA show last December, Daniel Cormier told Joe Rogan that he was afraid that Volkanovski had not recovered from his UFC 294 head-kick knockout loss to Islam Makhachev last October and was fighting Topuria too soon. “I worry that because of his greatness, we’re going to believe that come February or January, he’s going to fight Topuria [and] you almost expect the same thing. But what if it’s too soon,” the former two-division champion said.

Rogan agreed and felt that Topuria was a very dangerous opponent. He, too, was concerned that Volkanovski might be getting back in the cage too soon, especially against someone with the knockout power and excellent takedowns as ‘El Matador’.

“And listen, even if he wasn’t compromised, even if he didn’t fight Islam, Topuria is a nightmare. He’s scary. What he did to Josh Emmet, I was like ‘oh man, he’s nasty’. What he did to Bryce Mitchell, he’s so good, he’s so skilled, he’s got great boxing, got great takedown everything, everywhere,” the podcast host said.

Having been there and done that at the highest level of the sport, Cormier shared his personal experience with Joe Rogan of suffering a bad knockout to explain why he was not comfortable with Volkanovski fighting in February.

Topuria on the cusp of breaking out

Cormier told Joe Rogan that after he was knocked out by Jon Jones in their UFC 214 rematch, he took his time to come back. ‘Volk’, on the other hand, was fighting only four months after the worst knockout of his career, which concerned the former champion.

“I got knocked out by Jones in Anaheim and I got called for a fight in late September and I said, no, I need time. I need to let my brain heal. He got knocked out in October; he’s gonna fight in February… It’s a little worrisome for me,” ‘DC’ said.

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Given the hard loss he took against Makhachev, this is the most vulnerable Volkanovski has looked in his UFC career so far. And if Ilia Topuria can beat the greatest featherweight in the history of the sport, it will certainly help launch him into the stratosphere of superstardom. Topuria, who is in a very similar position as Conor McGregor, was at this point in his UFC career, is ready for take-off. The question is will Volkanovski be his Jose Aldo? Do you agree with Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier? Who do you think will win the UFC 298 main event bout?

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