The UFC returns this weekend as UFC 325 takes place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia headlined by featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defending his crown against Diego Lopes.
These two fought for the vacant belt in April 2025 afte Ilia Topuria had relinquished the championship to move up to lightweight, with the legendary Volkanovski claiming victory in that one via unanimous decision to become a two-time champion at 145lbs. A huge co-main event between Dan Hooker and Benoit Saint-Denis will support on the undercard.
We’ll take a look at the main event and break down each fighter to provide you with our best free UFC betting picks, and try to earn you some extra cash while you take in the action in the cage.
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Two of the very best fighters in the featherweight division will lock horns once again this weekend with the undisputed championship on the line.
The Australian native is regarded as one of the best ever to do it in the weight class, having gone on an incredible 12-fight win streak following his debut with the organisation, including wins over the likes of Darren Elkins, Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, Max Holloway three times, and Brian Ortega.
His aura was shattered though as he moved up to the lightweight division to try and become a two-weight world champion, then suffered defeat to Islam Makhachev. He returned to featherweight to defeat Yair Rodriguez, but then lost a rematch against Makhachev on short-notice at lightweight again.
Volkanovski then suffered the first defeat of his featherweight career as he was knocked out by Ilia Topuria, but in his last fight he dominated Lopes in their first match-up to reclaim the championship.
He comes into this fight with a professional record of 26-4, with 13 knockouts and 11 decision wins.
Lopes came into the UFC on short notice to take on the undefeated Movsar Evloev and fell to defeat, despite a top performance. His first win with the organisation came in his next fight, as he submitted Gavin Tucker via armbar in the first round, before following that up with a first-round knockout win over Pat Sabatini inside 90 seconds.
That set up an excellent fight against Sodiq Youssef at UFC 300, where he once again claimed a first-round knockout victory. He was then scheduled to fight Brian Ortega in his next bout, but the submission specialist withdrew on the day of the fight, and was replaced by Dan Ige in a 165-pound catchweight bout. Lopes responded to the chaos by claiming a unanimous decision win, before finally defeating Ortega in their re-arranged bout three months later.
That set up the first title fight with Volkanovski, but for the first time, he saw his wild style nullified, and he fell to a unanimous decision defeat. But he responded last time out, as he knocked out rival Jean Silva with a spinning elbow in a fight of the year candidate, to earn a rematch for the championship.
He comes into this fight with a professional record of 27-7, including 11 wins by knockout and 12 wins by submission.
Volkanovski is one of the most well-rounded fighters that the UFC has ever seen, and it’s that skillset that has made him such a good champion.
The Australian is someone who generally likes to stay at range from his opponents and use his kicking game to score points, before rushing in with big shots to close the distance and mix in his wrestling to dominate.
He’s also got excellent jiu-jitsu and boxing, although he’s never really had the kind of knockout power to scare opponents away, preferring to beat them with volume. For him to win this fight, he needs to just continue to do what got him to this position in his career.
Lopes, on the other hand, is a bit more frantic with his fighting style. He likes to push forward and pressure his opponents, throwing hard leg kicks and threatening with his devastating power. Like Volkanovski, though, the Brazilian-Mexican is also more than adept in the grappling department.
A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Lopes has more submission wins than knockouts in his career and if he wants to avoid a repeat of their last fight, he may need to use it more. By using forward pressure to open up opportunities for him to be offensive with his grappling, he could force Volkanovski into more uncomfortable positions, and that will likely be his best route to victory.
It’s also worth noting that the way both Topuria and Makhachev managed to defeat him was by backing him up to the cage and striking. Topuria threw a big, powerful combination that put his lights out, while Makhachev landed a big head kick. Lopes has both of those things in his wheelhouse too, and could look to replicate it.
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It’s rare that a rematch goes too differently from the original meeting, especially when they happen so quickly.
Volkanovski is well-rested, and while he is getting older, his last performance was among the best we’ve seen from him. Lopes went through a war with Silva to get here, and took a lot of damage in the process.
It’s likely to be an exciting fight again, but it’s hard to look past a repeat from the first fight, and there is excellent value in Volkanovski to claim the win once more.
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About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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