Nine months after he outpointed Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight title, Alexander Volkanovski will make the first defense of his second title reign on Saturday in a rematch headlining UFC 325 in Sydney, Australia.
The biggest narrative surrounding the rematch, which was booked just months after Lopes rebounded to finish Jean Silva in a thrilling slugfest headlining Noche UFC in September, is whether Lopes (27-7) can improve at all on his performance at UFC 314 when he dropped and twice hurt Volkanovski (27-4) but was unable to put him away in a clear decision loss.
Even though Lopes even getting the immediate rematch was somewhat controversial in the eyes of fans considering he leapfrogged top contenders Movsar Evloev (who defeated him in 2023) and Lerone Murphy, the 31-year-old native of Brazil has said all of the right things about what he learned 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 told 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.”
Sign up for Paramount+ and watch UFC 325 live on Saturday night for no additional fee — every UFC numbered event and UFC Fight Night is included with the price of your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year!
Lopes, who moved to Mexico at age 19 to become a jiu-jitsu instructor and where he has now set up shop at the Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, now readily admits the moment was too big for him nine months ago and it forced him to abandon his wrestling, throw away his coaches’ gameplan and methodically follow Volkanovski around the cage — without cutting it off — in search of a one-punch knockout.
UFC 325 predictions, odds, best bets: Alexander Volkanovski, Benoit Saint Denis among top picks to consider
Brent Brookhouse
The simplistic nature of Lopes’ attack turned out to be easy pickings for Volkanovski, who picked Lopes apart in the opening round (before surviving a knockdown of his own in Round 2) and was able to turn back the clock by reclaiming the 145-pound title he had lost one year earlier via second-round knockout against Ilia Topuria. It’s likely because Lopes made the fight so easy for Volkanovski in their first meeting that the 37-year-old legend isn’t expecting a more difficult 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 told 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 much is he capable of changing? And, if he tries to, is that going to hold him back from what he does best? If he tries to outstrategize me, I think that just makes it a lot harder for him. And if he does plan on doing that, that’s going to completely change halfway through the first round.”
The biggest potential improvement for Lopes should come on the ground. Not only does he have an excellent submission base as the longtime jiu-jitsu coach of former UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, he has committed himself to improving upon his wrestling game after all but abandoning it against Volkanovski.
Lopes, who made multiple trips in 2025 to Oklahoma State University to train under the guidance of former U.S. Olympic gold medalist David Taylor, showed improvements on the ground against Silva last fall when he utilized takedowns and top control to dominate his countryman in the opening round by landing heavy damage.
“In the first fight, many people asked me why I didn’t try to take [Volkanovski] down,” Lopes said. “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 danger level of Lopes’ high-level submission game and the improvements he showed in taking Silva down, he doesn’t expect it to be much of a factor in their second fight.
“For me, bring that on,” Volkanovski said. “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 big 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 right. Lopes also won Round 4 on two of the three judges’ scorecards after hurting him with a right uppercut to the left eye that forced 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 said. “It’s sort of out of position punches. He even has a weird style sort of punch where mechanically it’s not how you would fire a punch. Like, Ilia Topuria has got this perfect technique so you can understand why there is so much power behind it. But [Lopes] doesn’t even need technique and it’s just sheer power.
“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, said that he loves when critics mention his age because that only makes his victories more sweet. Lopes, meanwhile, said that he hopes to bring the same type of chaos to the rematch that he thrived in during his wild second round against Silva, which ended with Lopes knocking him out with a spinning back elbow.
For Volkanovski, a victory would give him a sixth featherweight title defense, which would place him one short of Jose Aldo’s UFC record for the division and further make the case for “Alexander the Great,” who defeated Aldo by decision in 2019, as the greatest 145-pound fighter in history. But for Lopes, the motivation to bring home a world title is entirely 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 said. “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.'”
Who wins Volkanovski vs. Lopes, and how exactly does the fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks and analysis from the incomparable expert who is up over $21,000 on his UFC picks since May 19, 2018, and find out.
Add Comment