Alexander Volkanovksi is better placed than almost anyone to predict the biggest fight of 2025.
Ilia Topuria recently vacated his featherweight belt to pursue a potential fight with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who is fresh off a quick submission win over Renato Moicano at UFC 311.
Alexander Volkanovski famously got knocked out by Topuria when they met at UFC 298 last February.
Before that, ‘The Great’ also got slept by Makhachev in a rematch of their highly competitive first fight.
Alexander Volkanovski breaks down Makhachev vs Topuria
A fight between Makhachev and Topuira was talked about for much of 2024.
In October, before Topuria KO’d Max Holloway to defend his belt at UFC 308, Volkanovski gave his thoughts on the potential champion vs champion super fight.
The 36-year-old believes Makhachev would be the favorite due to his more well-round skillset in comparison to Topuria, who he gave a ‘puncher’s chance’ of pulling off an upset.
“Islam is really good,” Volkanovski told Submission Radio.
“I think Islam’s very fit. Islam is very safe, but, again, Ilia is the type of guy that could knock out anyone.
“So he’s got power in them hands, you know what I mean? Everyone knows that. You go in there fighting him you know that’s his chance of winning. It’s usually [bad] to always bet on someone when they just have a puncher’s chance.
“I feel like you need to show more to be a hot favorite, especially against some like Islam.”
Alexander Volkanovski vows to become two-time UFC champion
Topuria leaving the 145lb division means Volkanovski will fight for the vacant title at UFC 314.
Streaking contender Diego Lopes is the man who will stand in his way at Kaseya Center in Miami on April 12.
Immediately after Dana White announced their fight on Wednesday evening, Volkanovski sent a message to Lopes.
“Lopes is obviously a dangerous dude,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel.
“A bit of a different matchup to Ilia. Obviously, they are both dangerous fighters. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to this one and feeling excited. I’m feeling great and I’m only going to get better from here, so that’s a scary thing, especially for Lopes.
“I think Lopes is in for a very, very hard fight. He’s a gamer. He’s a great dude. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. A very nice fella. I’m sure he’s expecting to go out there and win the belt, but I’m sorry, mate, that ain’t happening.
“Good on you for being in this position. I’m happy you’re getting the opportunity to fight for the belt, but I’m still here and you ain’t having it. Sorry, mate.”