Ilia Topuria shocked the world by defeating Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. The 27-year-old won the fight via knockout in the second round and is the new featherweight champion now. After the fight, ” El Matador” asked the UFC CEO Dana White to host a fight in Spain. The UFC head honcho liked the idea and expressed his wish to host the fight at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

With the UFC thinking of hosting an event in Spain, the 35-year-old Volkanovski confirmed that a rematch with ‘El Matador’ is on the cards. Michael Bisping, in his recent YouTube video, has some advice for the former champion regarding the rematch. Let us delve into the details to find out what the former champion has to say.

Michael Bisping shares his thoughts on the rematch with Ilia Topuria

Alexander Volkanovski looks absolutely ready to take on Ilia Topuria for a rematch. However, he needs to remember that this is the second fight he has lost via knockout in the span of 6 months. ‘The Great’, before his clash at UFC 298, moved to the lightweight division to take on Islam Makhachev at UFC 294. The 35-year-old took the fight at very short notice and lost via a brutal head kick. Many experts felt that the former champion returned to Octagon too soon after the knockout.

Now, ‘Volk’ seems all ready to face Topuria in Spain later this year. However, former UFC champion Michael Bisping advised him to take some time off before returning.

Bisping said, “Look, listen, as fighters, we operate with confidence. Confidence is such a vital ingredient in the mindset of a fighter. Of course, he’s got the skills. His boxing is fantastic, he’s got great footwork, he can wrestle, he’s got jiu-jitsu, and he’s only 35.”

‘The Count’ continued, “The whole ‘old man Volk’ thing, ok, it’s just because of these stats. But he’s not old. He’s 35 okay. But I would suggest he take some time away from the sport because if he goes back against Ilia Topuria when you have just lost twice in a row and you finished twice in a row, okay? Maybe that’s not the recipe for the best performance of a lifetime.”

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‘Volk’ is considered by many as the greatest featherweight fighter and has defended his title five times before this. However, this time round he failed to defend his title against a young prodigy from Spain. The 35-year-old took to his YouTube channel to give his thoughts on the fight and seemed to be in good spirits despite his loss.

Alexander Volkanovski praises ‘El Matador’ for his skills

The former champion, after his loss to ‘El Matador’ took to his YouTube channel to share his thoughts on the fight. During the video, the former champion mentioned he was in good condition despite getting knocked out. He also seemed calm after the loss and talked about the nature of the fighting business. ‘Volk’ claimed that winning and losing is a part of the sport and it’s not possible to win all the fights. The former champion also mentioned his plans for the fight and also praised the champion for pushing him to the cage.

He said,  “I had him missing, you know. Started touching [him] and then I was going to start adding on. He did a great job of getting to the cage [fence], where we knew we didn’t want to be with someone like him.”

This was the first time that the former champion failed to defend his title. However, his loss against the 27-year-old doesn’t take away anything from the Aussie star. He has dominated the featherweight division for a long time and will look to win back his belt soon. Should the 35-year-old feature in a rematch this year? Or should he take Bisping’s advice? Let us know in the comments below.

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