4 biggest storylines ahead of UFC 298

UFC 298 - and Ilia Topuria's opportunity to shake up the featherweight division - is upon us.

In Saturday's main event, Alexander Volkanovski looks to remain the 145-pound king in his sixth title defense against the undefeated Topuria. In the co-main event, Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa go to battle in a pivotal middleweight bout.

Here are four key storylines ahead of the UFC's return to Honda Center in Anaheim.

Is this the end of the Volkanovski era?

Volkanovski owns the longest active UFC title reign and the fifth-longest one in men's UFC history (1,522 days on Saturday). He has also never lost a fight at featherweight. All that said, Volkanovski's legendary title reign has never felt so at risk of ending.

Many believe Volkanovski is returning too soon after his devastating head-kick knockout loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 last October. It felt like the kind of defeat that can put a great but aging fighter on a downward trajectory. Volkanovski accepted that matchup - which was a rematch and at a heavier weight than normal for him - on less than two weeks' notice. He's since admitted he had been drinking every day for weeks before getting the call to replace Charles Oliveira - precarious circumstances for such a dedicated athlete.

Of course, it's impossible to count out someone as talented as Volkanovski entirely. He's beaten Max Holloway (three times), Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega, and Chan Sung Jung, and he went toe to toe with Makhachev in their first fight last February. He's one of the featherweight GOATs, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and one of the 10 or 15 best to ever do it. Also, let's not forget: Volkanovski dominated Rodriguez en route to a third-round TKO win seven months ago. Has his ability really diminished that much in just over half a year?

Unfortunately for Volkanovski, this is the furthest thing from a layup in his return to the 145-pound division. Topuria is undefeated, has barely entered his prime at 27 years old, oozes confidence, and has a well-rounded skill set with no apparent weaknesses. On paper, Topuria is one of Volkanovski's toughest challenges at featherweight in years, and he's catching the champ at the best possible time.

Will Topuria's confidence come back to bite him?

Topuria's confidence heading into his first UFC title fight has gotten a little out of control.

In his social media bios, Topuria calls himself a UFC champion and notes that his record is 15-0 (it's actually 14-0). Topuria, who is 6-0 in the UFC and has accomplished nothing compared to Volkanovski, is legitimately acting as if he's already won.

The 27-year-old Spaniard has also brushed off the likes of Holloway, Rodriguez, and Ortega as potential challengers, saying he'll never give them a title shot and instead wants to face Conor McGregor after he beats Volkanovski.

Topuria has become awfully arrogant for someone with one top-five win on his resume.

To Topuria's credit, he does appear to be a next-level talent. His demolition of Josh Emmett last summer was a sight to behold, and his submission of Bryce Mitchell was impressive. Maybe Topuria knows what's in store - an easy win against Volkanovski and MMA stardom in Europe.

But maybe the young fighter is being naive. If he really is looking past Volkanovski, that could be a recipe for disaster once they step into the Octagon.

Whittaker, Costa fighting to stay in the mix

Whittaker and Costa have been two of the top middleweights for the last six years. But it hasn't been smooth sailing recently, so this is a major crossroads fight for both men.

Whittaker is coming off a surprise knockout loss to current middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis last July. Before that, Whittaker held a long-standing position as the No. 2 middleweight in the world underneath Israel Adesanya. But that's no longer the case, especially after Sean Strickland dethroned Adesanya and then Du Plessis dethroned Strickland.

Costa, meanwhile, hasn't stepped into the Octagon since an August 2022 win over former champ Luke Rockhold and is a mere 1-2 over the last four years. After sitting out for most of 2023, the former title challenger had to withdraw from a high-profile bout against Khamzat Chimaev in October due to an elbow infection.

Luckily for Whittaker and Costa, there are few middleweight up-and-comers ready to take their spots. Chimaev, Brendan Allen, and Nassourdine Imavov are the only names in the bottom half of the top 15 who have a decent shot at cracking into the top five anytime soon. But Whittaker and Costa need to start staying consistent again if they want to be considered legitimate title contenders. Defeat at UFC 298 will be a massive step in the wrong direction.

Dvalishvili's last stop before title shot

UFC CEO Dana White has said that Merab Dvalishvili made a mistake by not fighting his friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling when the latter was the bantamweight champion.

Dvalishvili's decision may have made the UFC brass less eager to give him future title opportunities. But if Dvalishvili beats former two-division champion Henry Cejudo on Saturday and extends his winning streak to 10, there's no more denying the Georgian takedown and cardio machine.

In fact, Dvalishvili should've been the first to challenge Sean O'Malley after the American knocked out Sterling last summer to become the new bantamweight champ. But the UFC wanted to capitalize on O'Malley's history with Marlon "Chito" Vera, booking that rematch - at UFC 299 in March - instead. Vera handed O'Malley his first - and only - career loss in 2020 and will now try to take the title from him. However, Vera is just one win removed from a lopsided defeat to Cory Sandhagen last March.

With a victory over Cejudo on Saturday, Dvalishvili can make it impossible for White and Co. to deny him a title shot any longer.