The calendar suggests that there’s less than ten days left for the second UFC PPV of this year, the UFC 298. This is probably why the UFC community is currently buzzing with discussions about the coveted main event of the night featuring an Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria bout. None of Volkanovski’s featherweight challengers have been able to put a mark on his UFC record to date. But his Spanish UFC 298 challenger, Topuria, also boasts an undefeated pro-MMA record.
Hence, several fans have been rolling their eyes over other statistics of these two UFC featherweights to find who might have an edge in their encounter. Here, let’s take a look at the finish rates of both ‘Volk’ and ‘El Matador’ to find who takes the cake in this field.
Alexander Volkanovski: Finish rate till UFC 298
A lot of fans opined that Volkanovski could’ve finished even the UFC lightweight champ, Islam Makhachev if the clock allowed him another minute in the final round. But even without that, the Australian boasts a pretty healthy finish rate in his pro-MMA career. ‘The Great’ has won 26 out of his 29 pro-MMA fights to date. However, records also say that more than 50% of his wins have come by finishing off his rival within the stipulated time of the fight.
Here’s a summary of the number of fights that Alexander Volkanovski has won by finishing off his rivals:
Total wins – 26
Wins by KO/TKO – 13
Wins by Submission – 3
Percentage of wins by finish – 61.5%
But ‘Volk’s’ last outing ended up with adverse results. He might be used to finishing his rivals. But, he got KO-ed by his UFC lightweight king rival, Islam Makhachev, at UFC 294. However, since he will take on Topuria at featherweight, most fans may agree that ‘Volk’ packs enough prowess to boost his pro-MMA finish count to 17.
Ilia Topuria: Finish rate till UFC 298
It won’t be wrong to say that Topuria’s undefeated record will probably propel him to give out everything he has during his UFC 298 encounter. However, the Spanish UFC featherweight also boasts an insane record when it comes to finishing his rivals. His fight-finishing rate may be taken as another prime reason behind several UFC pundits counting him as one of ‘Volk’s’ toughest challengers to date.
Here’s a summary of the number of times Ilia Topuria has won fights by finishing his rivals:
Total Wins – 14
Wins by KO/TKO – 4
Wins by Submission – 8
Percentage of wins by finish – 85.7%
Topuria’s reputation indicates that he will be looking to finish his UFC featherweight champ rival on 17 February as well. It may be agreed that he packs enough prowess to get his desired result. But Volkanovski has diffused the plans of many such UFC featherweight to date. However, most fans may agree that this coveted UFC 298 encounter has all the ingredients to get the fans on the edge of their seats.
