Alexandre Volkanovski he thinks Brian Ortegahis experience will help him win at UFC 303.
Ortega (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) faces Diego Lopes (24-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Lopes is coming off consecutive first-round knockouts over Pat Sabatini and Sodiq Yusuff. Volkanovski expects Lopes to land on Ortega, but is unsure if he will be able to arrest him. The former featherweight champion also thinks Ortega’s striking is underrated.
“His (Lopes) striking is on another level, but Ortega’s chin could tire him, he could get hurt, I don’t know how to turn off the lights,” said Volkanovski in his Youtube channel. “I can’t see that happening. … From experience and what I’ve seen, he has a granite chin.
“I think this could cancel out Lopes’ big knockout to catch Ortega. It will be interesting on the feet. Ortega has a lot of ability on his feet. I think he’ll want to work more on his feet. I think he’s going to work on his striking, and when he chooses to work on his striking, he really has a great striking.”
Volkanovski was pushed to the limit by Ortega in their title fight at UFC 266 in 2021. Ortega took Volkanovski down and caught him with a deep guillotine choke, but Volk was able to recover. He defeated Ortega for a unanimous decision victory.
Volkanovski sees Ortega vs. Lopes as a guaranteed banger and expects the fight to go down. Ultimately, he’s picking Ortega to get a surprise win over Lopes.
“Who am I choosing? Lopes is the favorite,” said Volkanovski. “Lopes is good, man. It will be the first time I face Lopes. Ortega’s durability. It’s a three-round game. Does he do enough damage in the first two rounds to make a decision? Three rounds, man, am I going with Lopes? I think he’ll land more when standing up because he’ll be aggressive.
“I don’t think he’s going to take him down or knock him out. It could, but like I said, Ortega’s chin is legit. Man, this is complicated for me. I can’t pull the trigger on this. This one could ruin negotiations, folks. I’m going with the underdog here. I have a lot of respect for Lopes and I know he’s going to bring it, and I know it’s a last-minute, three-round fight. Stylistically in this situation it might favor him a little more, but I’m going for Ortega.”
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 303.
