Georgian-Spaniard star Ilia Topuria shocked the world at UFC 298. He extended his undefeated streak and became the first UFC featherweight fighter to knock out and defeat Alexander Volkanovski to win the 145-pound title. While many people are trying to comprehend why ‘The Great’ lost, MMA legend Chael Sonnen seems to know the reason behind it.

Alexander Volkanovski seemed unstoppable as the featherweight champion ever since he won the title in 2019. However, it had to come to an end, and Ilia Topuria did what nobody has ever done to the Aussie star in the division. But Chael Sonnen claimed that there was no one to blame other than Volkanovski himself.

Chael Sonnen claims Alexander Volkanovski got complacent

‘The American Gangster’ dropped a video on YouTube and assessed what went wrong with the former featherweight champion. He believes that Alexander Volkanovski should have made use of his ground game from the get-go against Ilia Topuria, but he chose not to. Sonnen stated, “When Volk needs to get on top, he can do it… He did not feel that urgency in the six/seven/eight minutes that we saw him in there with Topuria.”

The judges gave the first round to ‘Volk’ since he was winning the exchanges. This, Chael Sonnen claims, is the reason Volkanovski did not feel like he had to do something extra to gain an edge over Ilia Topuria and started getting complacent. “Perhaps Volk was getting comfortable. Perhaps Volkanovski, like me, felt Volkanovski was winning those exchanges. There was no need to mix it up,” said the MMA legend. Additionally, Sonnen also mentioned why the ground game was the right move for the former champion against a striking expert like Topuria.

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Was choosing to stand up and trade strikes the wrong decision for ‘Volk’?

Alexander Volkanovksi suffered a devastating knockout defeat against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294. As such, Chael Sonnen claimed that a stand-up game was not a favorable move. However, ‘The Great’ threw caution to the wind and instead kept staying on his feet. Sonnen further stated, “If you were to look back at a guy who’s knocked out in his previous contest, a standup battle does not favor him right away.”

Keeping that in mind, ‘The American Gangster’ mentioned that most fighters who suffer knockout defeats often resort to fighting on the ground in the next fight. But after winning most of those exchanges against Ilia Topuria, the former champion felt sheltered and comfortable. “If a guy gets knocked out, he gets hesitant to let those hands go. I think Volkanovski got comfortable,” Chael Sonnen added.

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Alexander Volkanovski has always mentioned wanting to be a champion in the lightweight division, which led him to fight Islam Makhachev twice. However, he is not ready to give up fighting in the featherweight division just yet. Volkanovski has expressed his urge to fight Ilia Topuria in a rematch, which he believes could take place in Spain. It remains to see how things pan out for the Aussie in the months to come and if he’s able to reclaim the 145-pound championship.

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