Nine months after he outpointed Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight title, Alexander Volkanovski will make the primary protection of his second title reign on Saturday in a rematch headlining UFC 325 in Sydney, Australia.
The greatest narrative surrounding the rematch, which was booked just months after Lopes rebounded to complete Jean Silva in a thrilling slugfest headlining Noche UFC in September, is whether or not Lopes (27-7) can enhance in any respect on his efficiency at UFC 314 when he dropped and twice harm Volkanovski (27-4) however was unable to place him away in a clear choice loss.
Even although Lopes even getting the instant rematch was considerably controversial in the eyes of followers contemplating he leapfrogged prime contenders Movsar Evloev (who defeated him in 2023) and Lerone Murphy, the 31-year-old native of Brazil has stated all the proper issues about what he realized from his loss to Volkanovski.
“When I look back at the first fight, I know that I had big moments but I am grateful because the first fight with Volk taught me a lot of different things [about] my life and my career,” Lopes advised CBS Sports on Wednesday. “I fixed those things and now I am a completely different fighter compared to the first fight. Now, I have the experience [of] fighting five rounds and now I have the experience of being in the main event with the cameras behind me. Nothing is new for me now so I don’t have the pressure.”
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Lopes, who moved to Mexico at age 19 to change into a jiu-jitsu teacher and the place he has now arrange store on the Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, now readily admits the second was too massive for him nine months in the past and it pressured him to desert his wrestling, throw away his coaches’ gameplan and methodically comply with Volkanovski across the cage — with out reducing it off — in search of a one-punch knockout.
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The simplistic nature of Lopes’ assault turned out to be straightforward pickings for Volkanovski, who picked Lopes aside in the opening spherical (earlier than surviving a knockdown of his personal in Round 2) and was in a position to flip again the clock by reclaiming the 145-pound title he had misplaced one 12 months earlier through second-round knockout in opposition to Ilia Topuria. It’s seemingly as a result of Lopes made the combat really easy for Volkanovski in their first assembly that the 37-year-old legend is not anticipating a harder time in the rematch.
“I think there is a lot that I can capitalize on [because] I’m capable of changing things and [utilizing] a new strategy,” Volkanovski advised CBS Sports on Wednesday. “Whether I want to take him down or fight at short range, I feel like I can make whatever adjustments are needed. But for him — and this is not a knock on him — but, what is he capable of? I hear people say that he is going to improve so much but I don’t think I saw that in his last fight, to be honest.
“How a lot is he able to altering? And, if he tries to, is that going to carry him again from what he does finest? If he tries to outstrategize me, I feel that just makes it a lot tougher for him. And if he does plan on doing that, that is going to fully change midway by way of the primary spherical.”
The greatest potential enchancment for Lopes ought to come on the bottom. Not solely does he have a wonderful submission base because the longtime jiu-jitsu coach of former UFC girls’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, he has dedicated himself to enhancing upon his wrestling recreation in spite of everything however abandoning it in opposition to Volkanovski.
Lopes, who made a number of journeys in 2025 to Oklahoma State University to coach underneath the steerage of former U.S. Olympic gold medalist David Taylor, confirmed enhancements on the bottom in opposition to Silva final fall when he utilized takedowns and prime management to dominate his countryman in the opening spherical by touchdown heavy harm.
“In the first fight, many people asked me why I didn’t try to take [Volkanovski] down,” Lopes stated. “It’s because I just tried to finish him with a big punch and a big connection but I forgot the gameplan. At the weigh in, I told my coach that maybe I would try to take him down but [Volkanovski] was a lot shorter, which makes it difficult. He is also so physically strong, too. But this time, I am more calm and more confident. Now, I want to take him down and use my jiu-jitsu and be more of a mixed martial artist.”
Although Volkanovski praised the hazard stage of Lopes’ high-level submission recreation and the enhancements he confirmed in taking Silva down, he does not count on it to be a lot of a issue in their second combat.
“For me, bring that on,” Volkanovski stated. “Everyone knows about my takedown defense and wherever he takes it, I think it’s going to be a rough night for him. I just have to prevent him from landing that big shot.”
It’s that one massive shot that Volkanovski does have a lot of respect for. Lopes bloodied the left eye of Volkanovski in Round 2 and later dropped him in the closing seconds with a clubbing overhand proper. Lopes additionally gained Round 4 on two of the three judges’ scorecards after hurting him with a proper uppercut to the left eye that pressured a wincing Volkanovski to shoot for a takedown.
“You have to put [Lopes’ power] right up there because if you just look at the technique, even when he’s landing, it’s not even pure technique,” Volkanovski stated. “It’s type of out of place punches. He even has a bizarre type type of punch the place mechanically it isn’t how you’d hearth a punch. Like, Ilia Topuria has acquired this excellent approach so that you can perceive why there may be a lot energy behind it. But [Lopes] does not even want approach and it is just sheer energy.
“I was hurting after that fight, I’ll be honest. I had stitches all over me and was banged up. I had stitches inside my mouth and obviously I couldn’t see out of my eye during the fourth round. So, I definitely felt the punches after, anyway.”
Volkanovski, who hasn’t fought since his victory over Lopes, stated that he loves when critics point out his age as a result of that solely makes his victories extra candy. Lopes, in the meantime, stated that he hopes to deliver the identical sort of chaos to the rematch that he thrived in throughout his wild second spherical in opposition to Silva, which ended with Lopes knocking him out with a spinning again elbow.
For Volkanovski, a victory would give him a sixth featherweight title protection, which might place him one in need of Jose Aldo’s UFC report for the division and additional make the case for “Alexander the Great,” who defeated Aldo by choice in 2019, as the best 145-pound fighter in historical past. But for Lopes, the motivation to deliver residence a world title is solely completely different.
“I left my house like 11 years ago and I told my mom and my dad, ‘Look, I’m leaving. I’m trying to look for the best life for all of us and I promise one day I will be champion of UFC,'” Lopes stated. “Now, I have like 50 percent of this accomplished in my life. I can [provide] the best life for my mom, my dad and my brothers but I have one more thing and that’s [to be] the best. I have this chance now. My goal is to take the belt and take a flight back to my city [of Manaus, Brazil] and to take the belt and say, ‘Mom and dad, here. My promise is accomplished.'”
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