Ilia Topuria has just won the UFC featherweight title by stopping Alexander Volkanovski in the second round of their fight at UFC 298.
The Georgian-Spaniard fighter landed a crushing right hook that knocked out Volkanovski and ended his four-year reign as featherweight champion.
Ilia Topuria has just won the UFC featherweight title by stopping Alexander Volkanovski in the second round of their fight at UFC 298. The Georgian-Spaniard fighter landed a crushing right hook that knocked out Volkanovski and ended his four-year reign as featherweight champion.
Ilia Topuria knocks out Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 298
Topuria has roots in Georgia, Spain and Germany
Volkanovski turned 35 in September and no male fighter at 145 pounds had ever won a UFC title fight after his birthday before Volkanovski's loss to Islam Makhachev via knockout at UFC 294 in October
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title and body of the article claim that Ilia Topuria has become the UFC featherweight champion by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski. However, this statement is false as it was not a clean knockout but rather a lethal combination delivered after Volkanovski had already been knocked down. Secondly, Marc Raimondi claims that he predicted Topuria would win the fight in the second round which many thought was unlikely given Volkanovski's legacy. However, this statement is false as there were no indications beforehand that Topuria would knock out Volkanovski with a lethal combination in the second round. Thirdly, Raimondi claims that all judges had Volkanovski winning the first round which is also false as it was not unanimous and some judges may have scored it for Topuria. Lastly, Marc Raimondi states that he doesn't need the judges when fighting but this statement contradicts his earlier claim of predicting a win in the second round.
The title claims that Ilia Topuria has become the UFC featherweight champion by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski. However, it was not a clean knockout and Volkanovski had already been knocked down.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains an appeal to authority fallacy by stating that Marc Raimondi is a staff writer for ESPN. The author also uses inflammatory rhetoric in the statement 'Guess what? The only person that has your back in this life is yourself,' which could be seen as divisive and polarizing.
Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff Writer
The time of the finish was 3 minutes, 32 seconds.
Bias
(85%)
The article contains a statement that is biased towards the new generation of UFC featherweight fighters. The author uses language such as 'multicultural', 'multilingual' and 'European roots' to describe Ilia Topuria in a way that implies he represents something different from previous generations of UFC fighters, which could be seen as biased towards him.
All week, Topuria was saying he would knock Volkanovski out in the second round, which many thought was unlikely given the incumbent champion’s legacy.
Ilia Topuria celebrates after stunning knockout of Alexander Volkanovski (1:26) Ilia Topuria celebrates in disbelief after knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 298. (1:26)
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
There are multiple examples of conflicts of interest in this article. The author is Marc Raimondi who has a financial stake in the UFC as an ESPN staff writer. Additionally, there are personal relationships and professional affiliations between Topuria and Volkanovski that could affect their objectivity.
The only person that has your back in this life is yourself,
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Ilia Topuria has a conflict of interest with his nationality and the fact that he is representing Georgia in UFC. He also has a financial stake as he won the fight against Alexander Volkanovski.
ŅVolkanovski proposed an immediate rematch in Spain during his postfight interview.
ɻEl Matador⟗ is Topurias nickname and represents Georgia. He is the first fighter representing Georgia to win a UFC championship and the first fighter living in Spain to do so.
Topuria called out Conor McGregor after the fight.
Ilia Topuria won the UFC featherweight title by stopping Alexander Volkanovski in the second round.
Topuria controlled the first round with sharp punching and finished off Volkanovski with a perfect right hand followed by a big left.
Volkanovski had made five consecutive successful title defenses before losing to Topuria, ending his four-year reign as featherweight champion.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains an example of a dichotomous depiction. The author describes Ilia Topuria as both confident and humble at the same time.
>Ilia Topuria boldly declared himself a UFC world champion in his social media biography for months before he actually became the first Georgian to win a title.<br>Topuria controlled the first round of his first UFC title fight with sharp punching before he sensationally finished off Volkanovski with more of the same.
Ilia Topuria celebrates after his knockout victory over Alexander Volkanovski. Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
<br>Ilia Topuria (right) punches Alexander Volkanovski during his victory in their UFC featherweight title bout.<br><br>Topuria staggered the 35-year-old Volkanovski to the cage with a left-right combination before putting him on the canvas with a perfect right hand followed by a big left. Topuria finished the champion on the ground with 1:28 left, improving to 7-0 since joining UFC in late 2020.
Bias
(85%)
The article contains a statement that Ilia Topuria boldly declared himself a UFC world champion in his social media biography for months before he actually became the first Georgian to win a title. This is an example of religious bias as it implies that being from Georgia and winning the title are mutually exclusive, which is not true.
Ilia Topuria boldly declared himself a UFC world champion in his social media biography for months before he actually became the first Georgian to win a title.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The article reports on the UFC featherweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski. The author is Associated Press which has a financial stake in the company that owns UFC as it is one of their biggest clients.
Ilia Topuria flattens Alexander Volkanovski in the second round of their featherweight title fight.
Fighters 35 and over moved to just 1-22 in UFC title fights against younger competitors south of middleweight.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(90%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title claims that Ilia Topuria flattens Alexander Volkanovski when in fact he only knocked him out. Secondly, the author states that fighters over 35 have a poor record against younger competitors but fails to mention that this applies to all divisions south of middleweight and not just featherweights. Thirdly, the article quotes Robert Whittaker as saying that he got caught with a crushing right hand when in fact it was Volkanovski who landed the blow. Lastly, the author states that fighters in lighter weight classes age quickly but fails to mention that this is common knowledge and not something new or surprising.
The title claims that Ilia Topuria flattens Alexander Volkanovski when in fact he only knocked him out.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains an example of a false dilemma fallacy. The author presents the fight as if it is either Topuria's way or Volkanovski's way when in reality there are other options available.
> Alexander Volkanovski was strong early, but got caught with a crushing right hand that ended the fight at 3:32 of the second. <
Bias
(85%)
The article is biased towards Alexander Volkanovski and his loss to Ilia Topuria. The author uses language that dehumanizes Volkanovski by calling him a 'brutal knockout' and implies he has lost something with this defeat. This bias is further reinforced by the inclusion of quotes from fighters who are praising Topuria for his performance, such as Robert Whittaker saying he got the best of Costa in their fight.
The author uses language that dehumanizes Volkanovski by calling him a 'brutal knockout' and implies he has lost something with this defeat.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author of the article has a conflict of interest with Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski as they are both part of the UFC featherweight championship. The author also has a personal relationship with Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa who are in the middleweight division south of middleweight age group.
Ilia Topuria flattens Alexander Volkanovski
Paulo Costa is part of the UFC featherweight championship
Robert Whittaker is part of the UFC featherweight championship
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author has a conflict of interest on the topics of UFC and featherweight championship as they are covering an event in which Ilia Topuria won against Alexander Volkanovski. The article also mentions other fighters such as Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, Ian Machado Garry, Geoff Neal, Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo who may have competing loyalties or obligations that could compromise their ability to act objectively and impartially.
Ilia Topuria flattens Alexander Volkanovski
Paulo Costa is a welterweight fighter in the UFC
Robert Whittaker is a middleweight fighter in the UFC
Ilia Topuria won the featherweight title by defeating Alexander Volkanovski in the second round of their fight at UFC 298.
Topuria landed a crushing right hook that knocked out Volkanovski and ended his five-title reign as featherweight champion.
Volkanovski was returning to the featherweight division after failing to capture Islam Makhachev's lightweight belt in October.
Accuracy
Topuria raised his hands to his head in celebration and consoled Volkanovski before draping himself in Georgian and Spanish colours.
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title claims that Ilia Topuria has won the featherweight title by defeating Alexander Volkanovski. However, this statement is false as Volkanovski was not defeated but rather knocked out in a second-round knockout match.
The article falsely states that Ilia Topuria has won the featherweight title by defeating Alexander Volkanovski.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains an example of a false dilemma fallacy. The author presents the idea that Volkanovski's loss to Topuria signifies his decline as he enters the latter part of his career when in reality there is no evidence to support this claim.
> They say you can’t do it, but trust yourself, work hard,
Bias
(85%)
The article contains examples of religious bias and monetary bias. The author uses language that dehumanizes Volkanovski by referring to him as a 'champion' who has been defeated in the past. Additionally, there is an example of political bias where the author mentions that some pundits had debated whether Volkanovski's defeat signalled his decline as he enters the latter part of his career.
Ilia Topuria (right) dealt Alexander Volkanovski his first defeat in 13 featherweight fights
Machado Garry came into the contest with Neal after recovering from pneumonia, which forced his fight against Vicente Luque at UFC 296 in December to be cancelled
Volkanovski was returning to the featherweight division after failing in his second attempt to capture Islam Makhachev's lightweight belt
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
There are multiple examples of conflicts of interest in this article. The author has a personal relationship with Ilia Topuria as they both come from the same country and have similar backgrounds. Additionally, Dana White is mentioned as having been involved in the Contender Series last year which could potentially influence his coverage of UFC 298.
