UFC 301: Ex-Champ Alexander Volkanovski Predicts Title Fight & Co-Main Event

"The Great" has shared his thoughts on this Saturday's UFC card in Brazil.

(Zuffa LLC)

Former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski has issued a pair of confident predictions for the top two fights that will take place at UFC 301 this Saturday.

Considered by many to be the greatest featherweight in the history of MMA, Volkanovski is coming off a knockout-loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 that ended his lengthy reign as champion and marked his first defeat in the featherweight division.

The loss of his UFC title has done nothing to dampen Volkanovski’s enthusiasm for fighting, and he recently appeared on Fox Sports Australia with fellow UFC veteran Joshua Culibao to share his prediction for this weekend’s UFC 301 co-main event between José Aldo and Jonathan Martinez.

Aldo's return to the Octagon is a major talking point ahead of UFC 301. / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

“I think Aldo gets it done,” Volkanovski said. “I think he’s still – that fast twitch is still there, same technical guy we’ve always seen. He’s still boxing…Martinez is obviously on a win streak, but I’m gonna back the local hero José Aldo.”

Aldo announced his retirement from MMA following a loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278, but after competing in three professional boxing matches last year “The King of Rio” surprised combat sports fans everywhere with the news that he’d be returning to face Martinez at UFC 301.

Volkanovski defeated Aldo via unanimous decision in 2019 to earn a crack at UFC gold, and “The Great” went on to predict that another Australian will become UFC champion this weekend when Steve Erceg challenges Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight belt.

Erceg earned a UFC title shot after just three bouts with the promotion. / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

“I think [Erceg] gets it done. I think he brings the belt back home to Australia. That’s what we wanna see, and that’s what’s gonna happen. I think he can get it done in the third round – a finish. I’m just gonna say a finish in the third round.”

Erceg only debuted in the UFC last year at UFC 289 but has already collected three wins during that time, and his knockout-victory over Matt Schnell earlier this year was enough to earn “AstroBoy” his first UFC title shot.

The Australian will be tasked with ending Pantoja’s five-fight win streak that includes a successful title defense against Brandon Royval late last year, and Erceg also faces the added pressure of challenging the Brazilian champion in front of what should be a raucous crowd in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night.

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