'Sorry Alex': Champ's brother warns Volk against rematch amid big ...

Ilia Topuria’s older brother has urged Alexander Volkanovski to avoid rematching his sibling for the UFC featherweight crown, saying: “Sorry Alex, but it’s going to be the same result”.

UFC 311: MAKHACHEV VS TSARUKYAN 2 | SUN 20 JAN | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View.

The warning comes as Aleksandre Topuria has also told Fox Sports Australia his superstar brother will be cornering him next month in Sydney as he looks to make his own hyped Octagon debut at UFC 312.

Almost a year to the day since he knocked out Volkanovski in a stunning world title win, UFC featherweight king Ilia Topuria will head Down Under to support older brother Aleks against breakout Aussie fighter Cody Haddon on February 9.

While he may not be headlining Qudos Bank Arena in a Volk rematch as initially hoped, the UFC champ will still be at the showcase – with suggestions he and ‘The Great’ will now throw down later this year.

Aleks Topuria (5-1) is a year older than his brother, and stands a key member of the champion’s team as a sparring partner, training partner, and even a coach.

The Sydney card will be headlined by UFC middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis and American Sean Strickland, and comes a year on from Ilia Topuria taking the crown via a devastating KO of the Wollongong star at UFC 298.

Since then, the 27-year-old has doubled down with a finish of Hawaiian legend Max Holloway, with Volkanovski now pushing for a rematch early in 2025.

Yet Aleks says that while he would like to see the rematch take place for “stylistic” reasons, he likes Australia’s former champ too much to see him knocked out again.

The older Topuria brother was in the corner the night Ilia become champ against Australia’s No.1 MMA fighter, and stresses it will be another devastating finish in the rematch.

Asked about talk of his brother facing Volkanovski again in 2025, Aleks said: “Listen, I like Alexander Volkanovski.

“And not just as a sportsman but as a man.

“So I don’t want to see this fight.

“As a sportsman, yes.

“Stylistically I want to see this fight one more time.

“But as a man, no.

“We did it one time.

“That’s enough.

“Sorry Alex, it’s going to be the same result.

“I see this.

“It’s going to happen again.

“Five rounds with Ilia in the cage, it’s something different.”

So your brother stops Volkanovski a second time?

“For sure,” he said.

The older Topuria brother also said he wasn’t surprised when, watching from the corner at UFC 298 in California, his brother finished Volkanovski in the second round with a heavy combination.

“Initially, when Ilia knocked him out, it was ‘wow, I can’t believe this’,” Aleks said.

“In that moment, you can’t believe it finally happened.

“But then when everything calms down, it was nothing new.

“I feel proud but truly, I’m not surprised.

“After the fight, I went back to the hotel with one of my close friends and, as we were talking, he asked me ‘what do you feel?’.

“I said ‘Now? It feels normal … I knew this moment had to come’.

“And truly, I knew that.

“I’m not a wizard, I don’t know the future.

“But we had visualised so many times with that belt, the moment was familiar.”

UFC 311: MAKHACHEV VS TSARUKYAN 2 | SUN 20 JAN | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View.

And as for his thoughts on Haddon then, who earned his first UFC win in October after winning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series?

“Good young guy, good up and coming fighter,” he said.

“I’ve seen his last two fights, won The Contender Series and then had one fight in the UFC.

“There is nothing bad I can say about this guy, I’m happy to have him as an opponent.”

Elsewhere, Topuria also laughed when asked exactly when it might have been that he and his brother, at home, on the street, in a playground, wherever, last threw down against each other.

“Me and my brother at home?” he grins.

“Very dangerous.

“We don’t fight at home.

“Last time it happened, there was too much damage for the home …”

Soon after, he added: “When you don’t know how to punch it’s different, you can fight with your brother a little bit.

“But when you learn, it’s too dangerous.

“We don’t play.

“At home sometimes, we stand up and play wrestling, touch the shoulders, but just playing.

“Yesterday we did this.

“See each other and start wrestling.

“But fighting … no.”

So what chance the Topuria boys ever fight on the same card?

“Truly, I don’t know what to tell you,” he said.

“I’ve always worked with him in the corner, so fighting on the same day? Maybe, if you let me fight and then go in his corner.

“But I think it’s better to focus on him 100 per cent.

“And then if not, focus on me.

“We have too many people on the team to fight together.

“Always in my camp, he’s training.

“And then in his camp I’m training.

“So to answer the question, different places is better.”

So will Ilia be in your corner at UFC 312?

“For sure,” he said. “He will be in my corner.”