Alexander Volkanovski offers bold career claim before UFC 314 fight with Diego Lopes

Despite being on the first two-fight skid of his career, Alexander Volkanovski is nothing but confident heading into his UFC 314 matchup with Diego Lopes.

Considered by many to be the greatest featherweight in the history of the UFC, Volkanovski’s title reign ended when he was knocked out by Ilia Topuria in his most recent fight at UFC 298.

That loss came just four months after “The Great” was also stopped by UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev in their rematch at UFC 294, but after Topuria elected to vacate the featherweight belt Volkanovski now has a chance to reclaim his title on April 13.

Alexander Volkanovski fights against Ilia Topuria during UFC 298 at Honda Center. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

"I Don't Believe Anyone Can Beat Me"

There are understandably some questions around how Volkanovski will look in his return after being stopped in back-to-back fights, but during a recent interview with Australia’s MAIN EVENT the 36-year-old issued an extremely confident claim ahead of his fight with Lopes.

“I don’t believe anyone can beat me,” Volkanovski said. “The only person that I can see giving me a tough fight for five rounds is Islam Makhachev, which we know…Everyone else, they’ve just got a puncher’s chance, that’s just how I always look at it. I truly believe that. That’s the confidence I have in myself. No one can beat me. They can catch me.”

Islam Makhachev (red gloves) fights Alexander Volkanovski (blue gloves) during UFC 284 at RAC Arena. | Jasmin Frank-Imagn Images

Volkanovski famously went the five-round distance with Makhachev in his first double-champ bid at UFC 284, and although the Australian suffered his first UFC loss in that outing he pushed the champion as far as fans had yet seen in a bout that took home “Fight of the Night” honors.

Volkanovski Shares Advice For Lopes

“The Great” will be pitting his current two-fight skid against Lopes’ five-fight win streak when the pair meet at UFC 314, but Volkanovski is confident that the surging contender’s style won't present any serious problems.

“I think he needs to be reckless to beat me. If he tries to fight this perfect fight, it’s not going to work. He needs to try and be reckless and catch me, that’s his best chance. He’s gonna do what we all know he’s gonna do and what he’s been doing. Which is exciting for the fans, but it opens a lot of doors for me. I think that’s his best chance, but that still opens a lot of doors for me. A lot that I can capitalize [on] April 13th.”

Brian Ortega (red gloves) fights Diego Lopes (blue bloves) during Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 at Sphere. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Lopes made his promotional debut against the undefeated Movsar Evloev at UFC 288 and dropped a unanimous decision, but after that the 30-year-old stopped three-straight opponents before defeating Dan Ige and Brian Ortega to earn this shot at the vacant featherweight title.

There’s still no concrete news regarding who former champion Topuria will face when he moves to the lightweight division on a full-time basis in his next outing, but April 13 fans will either get to see the start of a new era for Lopes or the beginning of a second featherweight title reign for Volkanovski.

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