As a man with experience being knocked out by Ilia Topuria, Alexander Volkanovski is uniquely placed to give his prediction for the main event of UFC 317.
Ilia Topuria finished Volkanovski in the second round of their fight at UFC 298, in the bout that saw the Georgian win the UFC Featherweight championship.
Topuria later vacated the title to move up to Lightweight and score a title shot for the vacant championship.
That bout will be against Charles Oliveira, although Volkanovski thinks the bout will be a quick one, with a brutal end.
Alexander Volkanovski backs Ilia Topuria to score an early knockout at UFC 317
Just like the Bloody Elbow experts, Volkanovski thinks that Topuria has too much in his locker for Oliveira to deal with at UFC 317.
He spoke with Fox Sports Australia, where the former UFC champion backed Topuria to use his aggression and drive to knock out Oliveira early on in the fight.
“He’s just so aggressive. He’s going to take a lot of risks, he’s in your face, he comes forward.” Volkanovski said about Topuria.
“It’s like, yeah, you can hit him, but something’s going to be coming at you as well — and they’re always dangerous guys.
“Especially for me, the only way I’m losing is I’m getting caught. And you’ve got someone who’s one of the most dangerous grapplers and most dangerous strikers.
“He’s dangerous everywhere. So you’ve got to go in there and respect that.
“I’m going to Ilia. I think he’s going to get the win. I think Ilia can catch him. I reckon early knockout. Early knockout for Ilia Topuria.”
Topuria
Ilia Topuria has only failed to finish his opponent once in the UFC
It is a pretty safe bet to predict Topuria to finish off his opponent early.
The Georgian fighter has only gone all five rounds once in his UFC career, since making his debut back in 2020.
| Opponent | Event | Finish | Round |
| Max Holloway | UFC 308 | Knockout | 3 |
| Alexander Volkanovski | UFC 298 | Knockout | 2 |
| Josh Emmett | UFC on ABC: Emmett vs Topuria | Unanimous Decision | 5 |
| Bryce Mitchell | UFC 282 | Submission | 2 |
| Jai Herbert | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Aspinall | Knockout | 2 |
| Ryan Hall | UFC 264 | Knockout | 1 |
| Damon Jackson | UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs Vettori | Knockout | 1 |
| Yousseff Zalal | UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs Sandhagen | Unanimous Decision | 3 |
That was a unanimous decision victory over Josh Emmett in 2023, which earned Topuria the Fight of the Night bonus, as well as setting up his title fight with Volkanovski.
That bout ended in a second-round KO, with five of his eight wins so far ending in those early rounds.
This does not bode well for Oliveira, who has a tough time ahead of him at UFC 317.