WATCH | Ilia Topuria poses with UFC belt as Alexander Volkanovski crashes photo shoot ahead of UFC 298

Ilia Topuria decided to have the UFC title wrapped around his waist before his title fight in the main event of UFC 298 against Alexander Volkanovski.

Topuria has been oozing with confidence in the lead-up to his first crack at the UFC title on Saturday night. The Georgian-Spaniard has already crowned himself as the UFC champion in his Instagram bio, also claiming he’s 15-0, even though he’s only 14-0 heading into Saturday.

Ilia Topuria’s confidence doesn’t stop there as on fight week during his photo shoot, he grabbed the UFC belt and decided to pose with it, which Volkanovski then confronted him about.

A sign of what's to come? 🧐🏆

🇪🇸🇬🇪 @TopuriaIlia just took the champ's belt at #UFC298's media day! pic.twitter.com/c5s75tyNru

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) February 14, 2024

Ilia Topuria posing with the belt is bold, given he isn’t a UFC champion. However, it shouldn’t be a surprise as he remains confident he will not only beat Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 but score an early finish.

“I see myself knocking him out in the first round,” Topuria said at UFC 298 media day.

Topuria also didn’t stop there with his bold prediction, instead, he also said he’ll cement himself as one of the greatest featherweights in history after Saturday night at UFC 298.

“As one of the greatest in the featherweight division,” Topuria said. “They’re going to remember me too as they’re going to remember Jose Aldo in the division, Conor McGregor, Alexander Volkanovski, I’m going to put myself in that book.”

There’s no question Ilia Topuria has full confidence in himself that he will leave Anaheim as the featherweight champion. If he does that, he will be able to back up all the talk he has said before this fight, but for now, Alexander Volkanovski wasn’t too happy he decided to pose with the belt before he even won it.

Ilia Topuria (14-0) earned the title shot with a lopsided decision win over Josh Emmett back in June. Topuria is currently 6-0 in the UFC as he also has beaten Bryce Mitchell, Ryan Hall, Damon Jackson, and Youssef Zalal. Although he is confident, Topuria enters the fight as the slight betting underdog as he’s +105 to defeat Volkanovski on Saturday night at UFC 298.