By: Nick Sadowy

Nick Sadowy is from Toledo OH, and is a Bowling Green State University student majoring in Sport Management with a minor in Journalism. Nick has a passion for sports and writing about sports.

February 16, 2024

OVERVIEW

UFC 298 is the second pay per view for the UFC in 2024. This is one of the most anticipated cards of the year headlining with UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski defending his championship against undefeated Ilia Topuria.

MAIN CARD

• Roman Kopylov vs Anthony Hernandez – This fight is kicking off the main card with a middleweight bout. Anthony Hernandez is ranked at #15 in the middleweight division, while Roman is unranked and looking to change that. Whoever wins this fight will no doubt move up the rankings. Hernandez is well known for his grappling while Roman is known for his kickboxing ability. This will hopefully kick off UFC 298 with an entertaining fight.

• Merab Dvalishvili vs Henry Cejudo – This bantamweight bout seems to have some high stakes for Henry Cejudo, who claims he will retire if he does not win this fight. Merab claims “he knows he has to beat me, otherwise he’s done.” Cejudo is a former champion and if he wins this fight he most likely will receive a title shot in the future. If he does not win, it will be a difficult road back and a road he seems unlikely to go through.

• Ian Machado Garry vs Geoff Neal – This next fight features one of the younger undefeated fighters in the UFC, Ian Machado Garry. Ian Garry is 13-0 and is ranked #10, while Geoff Neal is ranked #8 in the Welterweight division. Garry tends to talk trash within the octagon to get into his opponents’ heads, this will no doubt be a factor in his fight against Neal.

• Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa - This is one of the more anticipated fights of the year as it marks the return of Paulo Costa. In Costa’s eyes, he is one fight away from a title shot. There is no better way to earn a title shot than beating the legendary Robert Whittaker, who should not be taken lightly though. If he wins, he will probably be put in the title picture as well.

• Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria – The main event of the evening features Volkanovski vs Topuria. Volkanovski has been champion for a long time, dominating the featherweight division. He has only 3 losses and 2 of his lightweight losses came from Islam Makhachev, who challenged him for the lightweight title twice and lost both times. Clearly, he has been dominant and has been a monster that no one can compete against in the featherweight division. For the first time in a long time, that has changed. Topuria is undefeated and looking to take the title away from Volkanovski. It will be interesting to see how their styles clash at UFC 298.

CONCLUSION

This card has a lot of entertainment value and intriguing high-stakes storylines at hand. Can Volkanovski stay dominant at featherweight? Will Cejudo retire if he loses? Who will challenge for the middleweight title between Costa and Whittaker? In any case, this card should be a really great watch and should bring compelling fights.