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Alexander Volkanovski hinting he will take a more aggressive approach than usual on Saturday, When he fought Diego Lopez for the second time.
in main event ultimate fighting championship Volkanovski will fight in his hometown of Sydney at 325, where the Australian will defend his featherweight title against Lopez. The rematch comes nine months after Volkanovski, 37, defeated Lopez, 31winning the vacant belt.
With this result, Volker becomes a two-time champion. He hasn’t fought since, and Lopez bounced back to form with a stunning comeback against Jean Silva in September.
Lopez knocked down his fellow Brazilian with a spinning back elbow, and although he couldn’t find the shot to finish Volkanovski in April, he did knock down the Australian. Despite the dangerous moments, Volkanovski hinted at a risky, aggressive game plan this weekend.
“[I’ve thought to myself,] “You don’t have to be so penny-pinching, you can push these guys down,” Volkanovski told ESPN. “You know, I sometimes say: ‘You’re not going to waste so much energy on this, you’re not going to get tired. Why not just bulldoze these people when you really can?’
“I feel like I can do that with all my opponents: push them down properly and run right through these guys. That’s what I’m going to do this time.
“You wanna turn on me? Get ready for big shots coming at you. Get ready to get thrown at your head. You think you’re gonna stop [my] delete? Not if I wanted to knock you down. Do you think you will just move forward this time and I will run away? Something big is coming for you.
“I’m going to be strategic, I’m going to make sure you don’t hit me, but you’re going to get aggressive and something big is going to come at you. Something is going to come at you and I can knock anybody down.
“If I catch you, I’m going to knock you down. I’m going to strangle you, or I’m going to hit you over the head through the canvas. If I’m in a position and I’m dropping bombs, these bombs… I’m going to sit on them right now. I’m going to make sure the two or three shots where I sit down, I’m sitting on them right.
“You want to put yourself in that situation? I’m going to make you pay. This time, I think I can really crush these guys, so let’s do it.”
While some consider Volkanovski to be the greatest featherweight of all time, his form has declined in recent years. Against Lopez, he was aiming for his second win since July 2023 and his first stoppage since then.
The result was a TKO victory over Yair Rodriguez, as Volkanovski bounced back from a narrow loss to Islam Makhachev when Volka was challenging for the lightweight title. But after defeating Rodriguez, Volkanovski was knocked out two times in a row – in a makeshift rematch with Makhachev and then in a title defense against Ilya Topriya.
Topriya knocked out Volkanovski in February 2024 and vacated the title 12 months later, giving the Australian the vacant title over Lopez.
While Lopez (27-7) showed his power against Volkanovski, he also poses a huge submission threat. Of the Brazilian’s 27 career wins, 12 have come via submission and 11 via KO/TKO; the other four have come via decision. Volkanovski, meanwhile, has a 27-4 record as a professional with 13 KO/TKO wins, including three by submission and 11 by decision.