After two back-to-back losses and a year on the sidelines, Alexander Volkanovski is finally back this weekend to vie for the soon-to-be-vacant-featherweight title against Diego Lopes. The Aussie ace may not have gotten the chance at redemption against Ilia Topuria, who left the division to realize his dreams of conquering the lightweight waters. However, ‘Volk’ still has a golden shot to become a 2-time 145lbs champ. And the former champ looks like he’s fully ready for his comeback fight because his coach sees him dominating Lopes at UFC 314.
Even though he’s on a losing skid, oddsmakers still have Alexander Volkanovski as the favorite heading into the title fight this weekend. Moreover, the Miami title outing is expected to see Volk return to 100 % health considering the former champ struggled with a broken elbow before his bout at UFC 290. This was revealed by head coach Joe Lopez in November last year. Could that turn out to be something that affects the way he fights? Well, apparently not because Lopez who doesn’t like to talk about predictions, believes that the man from the land down under is going to take Diego Lopes into deep waters.
Volkanovski’s coach is pretty much convinced that ‘The Great’ will turn up the pace when the fight reaches the middle point. At the end of the fight, Lopez envisions the former featherweight champion taking the fight to the ground and registering a finish against Diego Lopes. “Personally, I don’t like to make predictions or anything like that. I just like to see how it goes,” Alexander Volkanovski’s coach told ‘Submission Radio’. “But if anything, I’d say, probably by the third round, I think he [Volkanovski] should start breaking Diego and either get him, he’ll take him down and ground-and-pound him, or he’ll get a submission.”
Despite claiming that he doesn’t like to make predictions, Volkanovski’s coach shared a pretty bold one when asked to. He claims that he sees Diego Lopes giving up during the fight by ‘tapping out’, which he has never done in his entire MMA career. “But more than likely, it will be third or fourth round ground-and-pound or a tap out from the punishment that he’s copping from the top,” Joe Lopez added.
February 17, 2024, Anaheim, California, USA: ILIA TOPORIA 14-0 of Westfalen, Germany defeats ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI 26-3 of Shellharbour, NSW, Australia by KO right hand during UFC 298 at the Honda Center, Anaheim, California Anaheim USA – ZUMAo117 20240217_zsp_o117_026 Copyright: xMikaelxOnax
But what does Alexander Volkanovski think about his opponent? Well, the former featherweight champion opened up about his upcoming fight over a week ago. And he, too, made a bold statement, like his coach. Here’s what he had to say!
Alexander Volkanovski claims Diego Lopes will have to be ‘reckless’ to beat him
Despite his loss to Ilia Topuria as a 145-pounder, Alexander Volkanovski doesn’t imagine anybody can give him the kind of run for his money that Islam Makhachev did on two separate occasions. When it comes to Diego Lopes, ‘The Great’ claimed that the Brazilian star needs to throw caution to the wind if he ever hopes to get the better of him at UFC 314. That way, Volkanovski aims to “capitalize” on the Brazilian’s mistakes, which he’ll be keeping a close eye on.
“I don’t believe anyone can beat me. The only person that I can see giving me a tough fight for five rounds is Islam Makhachev,” Alexander Volkanovski stated on the ‘Main Event’ show. “I think he [Lopes] needs to be reckless and catch me. That’s his best chance. So he’s going to do what we all know he’s going to do… which is exciting for the fans, but it opens a lot of doors for me… [There’s] a lot I can capitalize on and that I will capitalize on.”
Well, what do you think? How do you see the UFC 314 main event for the vacant title fight going down? It’ll surely be an exciting matchup, but it remains to be seen if we’ll see a two-time champion or if we’ll have the crowning of the sixth undisputed 145lbs champion. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
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