I'm glad to see Volkanovski back in action again and back in his usual weight where he is comfortable to beat everyone inside the octagon. Let's see how he used his experience back in his comfort zone after the simultaneous two losses against Islam. Now that his fighting for the championship again, it will be an opportunity for him to regain back his honor because this guy is honorable and no one thought that he would be an easy opponent against Islam after their 1st fight when he lost, he also lost some respect because he looks like he reached his limit in that 2 fights. So this fight meant a lot for him because this is where he stands back again.
For sure if Volkanovski is around it will be another fun event for the UFC however his opponent looks intimidating and he was like he doesn't have any weakness whatsoever in him, Ilia Topuria is surely a fighter with the caliber that Volkanovski might have a little trouble with so this is why the odds are very close this is surely why this fight is interesting many fans think that Volk is old and needs to be replaced while many believe that Ilia Topuria is the one that will get the reign of Alexander Volkanovski, and in my opinion, I am really concern on the Future of Volkanovski is really in danger having Topuria as a challenger.
The odds in Volkanovski vs Topuria are so tight. Can't say Topuria isn't capable of submitting Volk but it could be too early for him to get this shot and Volk is a tough fighter for Topuria. With Volks' striking, Topuria will be forced to bring the fight to the ground to win. It's way hard to speculate on this fight but I could choose the fighters below to win their fights.
Paulo Costa
Ian Machado Garry
Merab Dvalishvili
Roman Kopylov
As we all know Volkanovski has a remarkable defense on the ground, which is why it is very hard if Topuria can submit Volk that easily as shown in the previous match of Islam Makhachev VS Alexander Volkanovski, that Volk has pretty much solid ground defense but that is if Ilia Topuria has the power to make that submission successfully executed.
Now I am baffled if Robert Whittaker can outpower Paulo Costa because of their body physique or just outsmart him, Robert Whittaker is a technical fighter so he will win based on the strike landed on his opponent, while I can not guarantee that Paulo Costa will really win in this I can say we can not underestimate Whittaker if he can not handle the strength of Costa.
While Merab Dvalishvili in my opinion has the strength and Cardio that an old Henry Cejudo can take for me base on the Aljamain Sterling fight it is just that Cejudo is too old for this.