The UFC featherweight king, Alexander Volkanovski’s efforts to become a UFC champ-champ may have ended in despair. However, several fans still believe that he holds an unbeatable prowess in his usual weight class. The UFC’s 2024 schedule reveals that ‘Volk’ already has his comeback fight scheduled for UFC 298. Hence, most fans may have their eyes fixed on the main event of the coveted UFC PPV. But UFC 298 has a lot more to offer. Here’s a detailed look at the entire fight card, timings, and other details of the UFC’s second PPV event of this year scheduled for 17 February 2024.
UFC 298 main event: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria
As already mentioned, a plethora of UFC fans are eagerly awaiting the current featherweight king’s return to his territory. No UFC featherweight has been able to solve the ‘Volk’ puzzle to date. Several fans are expecting a similar domination from ‘The Great’ once he returns to his usual weight class at the UFC 298 main event. Volkanovski had his last featherweight bout against the former UFC interim featherweight champ, Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290. Despite a pretty evenly matched initial rounds, the Australian finished off ‘El Pantera’ via a TKO in the third round, defending his title for the fifth time.
But several fans, including the noted former UFC champ-champ Daniel Cormier, believe that ‘Volk’ will be up for a different kind of challenge. His rival, Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria has showcased multiple times that he has a superb all-round game. His furious KO victory against Jai Herbert on 19 March 2022 testifies to his vicious striking skills. While his submission victory over Bryce Mitchell at UFC 282 stands as proof of his awesome ground game. It’s quite apparent why fans can’t stop talking about this coveted fight.
UFC 298 co-main event: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo
Several fans expected the noted former UFC champ-champ, Henry Cejudo, to make his octagon return with a victory. But, the UFC 288 main event ended with disappointment for all such fans. ‘Triple C’ picked up a split decision loss against Aljamain Sterling, in the main event of the night. This is why fans may be expecting Cejudo to finally get back to the winning books at UFC 298.
However, getting a win over Merab ‘The Machine’ Dvalishvili isn’t going to be a cakewalk for Cejudo. The Georgian UFC bantamweight is currently on a nine-fight winning streak, which also includes a victory over the former UFC bantamweight champ, Petr Yan. Dvalishvili also possesses a superb all-round game much like his rival, Cejudo. Hence, it might be agreed that this bout has every ingredient to become a barn burner.
However, the entire card of UFC 298 has several other enthralling fights that can get the fans on the edge of their seats. Here’s a list:
Main Card
- Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Geoff Neal
- Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos
- Tai Tuivasa vs. Marcin Tybura
Prelims
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa
- Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro
- Anthony Hernandez vs. Ikram Aliskerov
- Yusaku Kinoshita vs. Danny Barlow
- Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick
As already mentioned, Dana White and Co. have scheduled UFC 298 for 17 February 2024. It will take place inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The prelims will be available for live streaming on ESPN/ESPN+ but to view the main card, fans will require a PPV subscription as well. Well, several other encounters like the Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa fight have also hyped up numerous fans for the coveted upcoming UFC PPV.
