Volkanovski eyeing quick rematch with Topuria on milestone Spain card

The long-time champion was dethroned on Sunday after challenger Ilia Topuria ended their featherweight title bout with a crushing overhand right in the second round.

It was the second time the Aussie fan favourite has been rendered unconscious in as many fights.

Both were against elite opposition, but many claimed the February date with the newly crowned Georgian champion came too soon after being stopped by Islam Makhachev in his previous outing in October.

Those whispers would only grow louder should he seek a quick turnaround into a rematch with newly crowned champion, who has stated a desire to defend his title for the first time in his native Spain.

UFC president Dana White was all for Topuria's first defence being in Spain, but was non-commital on Volkanovski, saying "I'm not even thinking about that right now" when asked about the prospect.

Volkanovski's resume as a champion would seemingly give him the unequivocal right to a rematch.

For his part, the 35-year-old Wollongong native is determined to book a second date with Topuria, in much the same way he granted Max Holloway the first of two rematches immediately after dethroning the long reigning Hawaiian on 2018.

"I've been champ for a long time and I want that rematch," Volkanovski said.

"That's something that needs to happen. I've been reigning champ for however long, I've been a bit of a company man, I've backed up at short notice, I fought Max three times.

"You name it, I've done it. I think I deserve that, and it's going to be different next time. You can't take anything away from Topuria. If he puts a hand on you like that, you're going to go down.

"That was a clean right hand and, no matter who you are, you let one of those land on your chin, you're probably going down. I am pretty confident we were probably up until then, but that's the game.

"We knew he'd be fast, we knew he'd be powerful, we knew not to be on the cage and let him catch me there, but he did a great job. There's not much I can say other than congrats to him."

Wollongong's fighting pride was famously emotional in the wake of the defeat to Makhachev, but cut an entirely different figure in the wake of Sunday's loss.

"I'm still still in high spirits. He caught me, that's that," he said.

"I felt good in there, I felt like I was seeing everything early, but he ended up catching me. There's not much he landed before then.

'I was pretty comfortable in the first round, I was just about to do more and he caught me. I felt great, I felt good in there, I saw everything he threw.

"I knew he would be fast and powerful, but I was seeing everything. I always talk about being active, but I don't care about any of that [now].

"I just want to rematch. I don't care when that is."

The 35-year-old also dismissed suggestions the TKO loss to Makhachev had any bearing on Sunday's outcome, re-iterating his desire for a quick do-over.

"It is two [knockouts] in a row, but that's fine," he said.

"I've been the hammer plenty of times, I was a nail today. I'll bounce back trust me.

"You get a big powerful puncher like that put one on your chin while you're stuck there, that's what's going to happen. Credit to him, but that won't happen again.

"I'm not expecting every champion to be as active as me, let's be real, he's just won the belt, he's going to go back, celebrate.

"[New champions] usually take a bit of time until their next fight after they take a belt. We'll see when that Spain card is. I'll headline it as a challenger.

"It's just going to make for a massive rematch in Spain by the looks of it."