Ilia Topuria shares shocking timeline for his MMA retirement

Ilia Topuria realized his dreams of becoming a world champion against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298.

The matchup was billed as arguably the most anticipated featherweight title fight since Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor at UFC 194, with the surging undefeated contender looking to dethrone the long-reigning king of the division.

Comparisons between McGregor and Topuria were made by several pundits, as both men had the same UFC records ahead of their first title fights, as well as being 27 years old.

'El Matador' backed up his prediction of a knockout inside the first two rounds as he handed Volkanovski his first-ever defeat at 145 pounds and the second KO defeat in his UFC career.

Despite only having just won the title, the Spaniard has already indicated when he would like to retire. He recently appeared on El Partidazo de COPE, a Spanish talk show, where, according to @pelunaton, he said this:

"Ilia Topuria once again reiterates that she intends to retire young, between 30-32 years old." [Translated via Google]

See the post below:

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Alexander Volkanovski looks back on his UFC 298 performance against Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria dethroned Alexander Volkanovski in stunning fashion in the UFC 298 main event, knocking out the former champion in Round 2.

'The Great' was returning to featherweight to face Topuria following the Australian's KO defeat to Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, and there were fears that he was returning too soon after suffering a concussion.

Volkanovski dismissed the notion that his defeat to Makhachev played a role in his stoppage loss to 'El Matador', crediting the new champion with making the correct adjustments during the fight.

Several weeks after UFC 298, he has now reflected on his loss to Topuria. Volkanovski believes his gameplan was too focused on his opponent's KO power and appears eager to rectify those errors in a potential rematch.

During a recent YouTube video, he said this:

"Did I feel like myself in there? No not really. I think it's probably clear for most people that I didn't look myself in there. There's a few things that could come in to play with that. Ilia's gameplan, even though he did pretty much what we expected him to do."

'The Great' continued:

"I just didn't fight my fight. I felt like I was fighting to not get caught, and that's just not my style."

Watch Alex Volkanovski reflect on his loss to Ilia Topuria below from 0:55: