With a featherweight title rematch heavily rumored for later in 2025, Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski will indirectly face off at UFC 312.
Aleksandre Topuria is making his own way in the world, but it’s impossible not to notice his famous last name as the brother of UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. Now the 29-year-old prospect is probably going to hear it even more in his debut at UFC 312 after getting a new opponent with ties to Alexander Volkanovski.
One fighter's loss is another's gain. After Cody Haddon suffered a broken foot that forced him out of a fight on the Sydney card vs. Aleksandre Topuria, the UFC enlisted newcomer Colby Thicknesse to fill the void. News of the change was first reported recently by Alvaro Colmenero and confirmed by the teams and the promotion Wednesday on social media.
The Fighters Records
Topuria (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is the brother of the UFC featherweight champion, Ilia. UFC 312 will mark his promotional debut just six fights into his professional career. He's never gone the distance in his career, with three TKOs and two submissions across five wins.
Thicknesse (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is a training partner of Volkanovski, who won the HEX Fight Series bantamweight title in November. Four of his seven pro wins have come inside the distance.
Read also: Record Ilia Topuria Sale
Topuria enters the UFC with a 5-1 record including three victories in a row all by knockout.
Aleksandre Topuria vs Colby Thicknesse UFC 312! Alex Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria in corner!
Volkanovski's Involvement
On Wednesday, UFC officials announced that Cody Haddon is out of his fight at UFC 312 due to injury but replacing him is undefeated Australian prospect Colby Thicknesse, who is a longtime training partner of Volkanovski.
In fact, Volkanovski is planning to corner Thicknesse in his octagon debut in Australia when he faces Topuria.
“How good is this? Very excited for Colby,” Volkanovski said along with the announcement. “There’s not a more deserving person than Colby Thicknesse. He’s probably the hardest worker I know on the planet. He’s got heart. He’s got the discipline. No one’s more committed than this guy.”
Volkanovski praised Thicknesse as one of his main training partners for most of his career and their friendship dates back when the UFC newcomer was still just a teenager. Now Volkanovski has the opportunity to help Thicknesse get ready for a short-notice opportunity against Topuria in his native Australia.
Read also: The Story of Ilia Topuria
Colby Thicknesse
Thicknesse's Perspective
“Funny enough, I was working my security job and was just in my car, watching a school site that got broken into, and then Ilia's manager hit me up on Instagram,” Thicknesse said. I spoke to Joe and (Alexander Volkanovski), who were both in New Zealand, went to sleep, then come Sunday morning pretty much it was official.
“I've been on the other end of this where I've been a part of the fight weeks, but it's being there for Volk, so to have it focused on me now and just to have him supporting me - same with Joe and everybody else - it's been really fun,” Thicknesse said.
“He hasn't faced high level opposition yet,” Thicknesse said. “Everybody has seen his record. He's obviously good to go out there and finish these guys. My thing is when I'm locked in there with him, I want to see how he goes when things don't go his way, when we're in them later rounds, how he deals.
The Hype and Rivalry
The storyline has been a big topic of conversation ahead of UFC 312, given Volkanovski’s history with the champion, who will be cornering his brother inside Qudos Bank Arena.
“I think it just shows the level that I'm at and it's also good because it's got that built-in rivalry and the narrative. I'm very objective with what I have to do on Sunday and how I'm going to go out there and win, but it is also very cool to play into this because this is probably one of the most hyped debutant vs debutant matchups in the UFC, so I'm very grateful that I get to be a part of this.
Read also: The Sound of Topuria's Entrance
Updated UFC 312 Lineup
With the change, the UFC 312 lineup now includes:
- Champion Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland - for middleweight title
- Champion Zhang Weili vs. Tatiana Suarez - for women's strawweight title
- Justin Tafa vs. Tallison Teixeira
- Rodolfo Bellato vs. Jimmy Crute
- Jake Matthews vs. Francisco Prado
- Anshul Jubli vs. Quillan Salkilld
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Tom Nolan
- Jack Jenkins vs. Gabriel Santos
- Bruna Brasil vs. Cong Wang
- Kody Steele vs. Rong Zhu
- Kevin Jousset vs. Jonathan Micallef
- Hyun Sung Park vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel
- Colby Thicknesse vs. Aleksandre Topuria
The new fight between Topuria and Thicknesse remains on the UFC 312 prelims with the event scheduled to take place on Feb.
| Fighter | Record | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Aleksandre Topuria | 5-1 (0-0 UFC) | 100% finish rate (3 TKOs, 2 Submissions) |
| Colby Thicknesse | 7-0 (0-0 UFC) | 4 wins inside the distance |
tags: #aleksandre #topuria #vs #cody #haddon