Outside Source
Colby Thicknesse, who trains with ex-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, has agreed to face Aleksandre Topuria on short notice at UFC 312.
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Thicknesse is a replacement for Cody Haddon, who withdrew from the bantamweight pairing due to injury. The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed the change via social media on Wednesday. The booking contains added intrigue since Topuria is the older brother of current UFC 145-pound king Ilia Topuria, who knocked out Volkanovski to claim the featherweight throne at UFC 298. Ilia Topuria and Volkanovski are rumored to be scheduled for a rematch at UFC 314 in April.
“How good is this? I’m very excited for Colby,” Volkanovski said in a video on the UFC’s Instagram. “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 …. He’s been my main training partner pretty much my whole career.”
Thicknesse, 25, has kicked off his professional tenure with seven consecutive triumphs on the regional circuit. He’s finished his last three opponents inside of a round. Volkanovski confirmed that he will be in Thicknesse’s corner at UFC 312.
The 29-year-old Topuria will be competing for the first time since May 2023, when he defeated Johan Segas via first-round technical knockout at The Way of the Warrior 9 in Madrid, Spain. “El Conquistador” has won five of his six professional outings, with all of his victories coming inside the distance. He began his professional MMA tenure in 2015 and fought three times that year but did not return to action again until December 2021.
UFC 312 takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 8 and is headlined by a middleweight championship rematch between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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