Will Volkanovski Be Medically Cleared To Headline UFC 297 In Toronto?

Summary

• UFC 297 will take place in Toronto, Canada and be the first PPV in 2024
• The Main Event was supposed to be for the UFC featherweight belt
• Will champ Alex Volkanovski be medically cleared for UFC 297 or will there be a new Main Event?

Canadian MMA fans were happy when the UFC announced that UFC 297 will be their first pay per view (PPV) card in 2024 and will take place in Toronto, Canada. The UFC has already announced a number of exciting fights for UFC 297 but is yet to officially confirm the Main Event.

There were talks that the Main Event would be headlined by UFC featherweight champ Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski who was expected to defend his belt against one of the top contenders in the division Ilia “El Matador” Topuria.

Volk Must Be Medically Cleared After KO Loss  

Volkanovski decided to step up and take a fight against UFC lightweight champ Islam Makachev on short notice after Charles Oliveira pulled out due to injury. Volk stepped in on less than 2 weeks’ notice to headline UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi in an attempt to become a two division champion.

Things did not go well for the Aussie champ as he suffered a first round knockout by head kick. This was the first time in Volk’s UFC career that he has been stopped and it also resulted in his second consecutive loss – both to Makachev in the lightweight division.

Volk was pretty devastated with his loss after the fight but did state that he was still very keen on headlining UFC 297 and fighting in Canada. Volk requested the UFC to keep him busy as he does not do well when he has too much downtime and is not fighting.

UFC President Dana White said that he was still interested in getting Volk to headline UFC 297 but needed to wait for Volk to be medically cleared after suffering a TKO. Commissions generally suspend players with a no-contact time period based on how serious their knockouts were and the concussion they suffered. The no-contact time period can be from 1-6 months.

Pena vs. Pennington Could Be New Main Event

If Volk is not medically cleared in time for UFC 297, there are rumours that the new Main Event could be for the UFC bantamweight championship that was vacated by Amanda Nunes after UFC 289. Former champ Julianna Pena is likely to fight Raquel Pennington for the title.