UFC champ sees 'game over' moment for Justin Gaethje with Ilia Topuria

Farah Hannoun, MMA JunkieTue, June 2, 2026 at 1:40 PM UTC

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UFC champ sees 'game over' moment for Justin Gaethje with Ilia Topuria

Alexander Volkanovski sees Justin Gaethje suffering his predicted fate against Ilia Topuria.

Interim lightweight champion Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is a huge underdog going into his title-unification bout against champ Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in the main event of UFC Freedom 250 at the White House on June 14 (Paramount+).

"Ilia Topuria, Justin Gaethje, White House main event fight, huge fight," Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. "Ilia obviously looking like the favorite. The pros are saying this could be a very, very, very bad night for Justin Gaethje, but let's break it down a little bit further."

While Gaethje started out his UFC career with a wild and chaotic style, he has shown tamed and refined performances in his recent wins over Dustin Poirier, Rafael Fiziev, and Paddy Pimblett.

"Justin Gaethje, obviously a durable, aggressive fighter and still quite calculated," Volkanovski said. "A lot of people see him being so aggressive and think he's just going to be so open for Ilia. Charles (Oliveira) is more aggressive than Justin Gaethje. ...Justin Gaethje has a lot of offense, very aggressive, but he will still try and put himself in defensive positions.

"He will shell up. You'll see him sometimes get into a big shell, which I think I've seen some people bring up and be like, 'This is a big problem.' It can be a big problem. For Ilia, Ilia is going to be a big problem if you are trying to pressure, fire shots and leaving your chin out there for him to just counter and put one on you."

UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski explained Gaethje's best approach – even though he thinks one false move could shut his lights out.

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"So Gaethje, I think being defensive coming forward with maybe trying to come forward, pressure, really shield up, not giving easy options for Ilia is going to be his approach," Volkanovski added. "I've seen him sort of do that, and I think he's going to know he needs to do that."

Volkanovski recounted how Topuria was able to back him against the cage to knock him out in their featherweight title fight at UFC 298.

"Ilia talked about, you know, wasn't the one and twos that he was going to get me with," Volkanovski said. "It was the three, fours, and fives is where he got me. When he brought that up, he was right. The ones and twos weren't really there, but the three, fours, fives in that combo were.

"I did a decent enough job to get myself outside his right hand, but he comes forward, I start drifting too far across. If he was just to continue that combo, I'm too far off to the right. He did a great job of mid-combo shuffling laterally to get his base and then just ends up catching me. I end up countering. We both stand in front of each other, we both fire, I end up copping the shot."

Volkanovski sees Gaethje taking a defensive approach, but eventually needing to take chances vs. Topuria. However, as soon as he does, Volkanovski spells a bad night for him.

"Are there easy ways to find a finish for Ilia? No," Volkanovski said. "This is going to be maybe a little bit harder. But as soon as Gaethje opens himself up, as soon as he tries to open up and let his hands go off, take the opportunity, I just believe Ilia is going to be too sharp and just catch him.

'I think he's safe enough and defensive enough to not fall into any of Justin Gaethje's traps and then as soon as Gaethje opens up, game over. I think it could be that quick as soon as he opens himself up. ... I think it's going to be a KO for Ilia. He is the favorite for a reason. I think he's just going to be too much and he's going get the KO victory."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC White House: Champ says Ilia Topuria will KO Justin Gaethje

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Source: “AOL Sports”