If Alexander Volkanovski’s team has their way, “The Great” will be rematching Ilia Topuria as soon as possible.
That may not be good news for Volk fans, depending on why they think their guy lost that first fight to “El Matador.” Volkanovski got knocked out in the second round by an absolute shotgun of a right hand to the jaw. If it was just ‘bad luck,’ then you’d want Alex back in there to avenge the loss.
But if that KO came about due to the Australian not taking enough time off after his last KO? Then maybe Volkanovski needs a solid stretch off before fighting again.
According to City Kickboxing’s Eugene Bareman, it’s full steam ahead on their end.
“I can’t divulge too much but I’m obviously in the camp that he deserves a rematch,” Bareman told Combat TV. “I think he’s done everything that he needs to do as a champion, represented himself, his family, his team, and most of all the company well. He’s been a long-standing champion, he’s defended many times, fought through injuries, taken fights on short notice for the company. He checks every box there is in relation to getting an immediate rematch.”
“And one of the other important boxes he checks: is there a bigger fight to make than that fight in the division? And the answer is no, there’s not. So the team is doing everything we can to secure the rematch and we’ll do everything in our power to turn that result around.”
Bareman did admit that Volkanovski suffered a concussion in the February Topuria loss, but is adamant that it wasn’t as bad as the Makhachev concussion in October.
“In terms of his symptoms, he doesn’t have any symptoms,” he said. “Which was not the case in the last knockout. There’s so many variables when it comes to having a knockout and how much, how many symptoms you suffer, and all of that. I don’t know the science behind it and I’m not gonna begin to try to understand it. But he seems to not be as affected by this concussion as he was by the last one. I won’t be able to tell you why.”
“He definitely needs to rest. He needs to rest his head. But … he needs to be sensible, but he also will be very keen to get that rematch this year.”
According to Bareman, it all depends on what the UFC decides as far as a timeline goes for Topuria’s return. “El Matador” left the cage relatively unscathed and his return probably comes down to venue availability in Spain more than any fighter’s preferred schedule. Ilia is a red hot star right now and the UFC needs to put him in front of a European audience as soon as possible.
Where that leaves Volkanovski? Hopefully on a forced vacation until the end of 2024. He certainly deserves a rematch when he comes back. But he needs to take a break after two bad knockouts in four months.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
