Aljamain Sterling could see Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes ending in a finish.
The former UFC Bantamweight Champion spent some time training with Alexander Volkanovski in Thailand in preparation for his return this weekend.
After more than a year away, Volkanovski’s set to face off against #3 contender Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight title in the main event of UFC 314 this Saturday.
Considered the greatest featherweight of all time by some, Volkanovski’s coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his career. Lopes, on the other hand, rides a five-fight win streak since nearly upsetting Movsar Evloev in his UFC debut.
Lopes a renown submission artist, Volkanovski worked with another great grappler in Aljamain Sterling in February.
Sterling almost beat Movsar Evloev his last time out and training with Volkanovski, the former champion speaks to how high-level of an athlete ‘The Great’ really is.
“In the beginning, it was rough for me,” Sterling said of training with Volkanovski in an interview with Helen Yee.
“Not in a good way…
“He beat me up pretty good,” Sterling said, noting he wasn’t the most in-shape at start of their training.
Aljamain Sterling backs Alexander Volkanovski to beat Diego Lopes
Former champions are split on who wins the UFC 314 main event with Max Holloway backing former foe Volkanovski and Henry Cejudo picking Diego Lopes to pull off the upset.
Having trained with Volkanovski before…
“I think Volkanovski to a decision or via ground to pound,” Sterling predicted.
“But in the first and second round, I think Diego has the highest possibility of winning.
“I think once he gets past that, he’s gonna get tired, and only because I’ve seen that in previous fights. I’m not talking s***. It’s just that’s literally what I’ve seen, other people who have seen it.”
“If he can catch him early, test his chin because we don’t know the the state of his chin right now,” Sterling said of Volkanovski.
Alexander Volkanovski was previously KO’ed by Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria in a span of four months but Aljamain Sterling refuses to count out the master technician at UFC 314.
“Again, I think Volk knows where he’s at,” Sterling explained.
“I don’t think he’s gonna be looking to trade punches in the pocket. If he fights smart into his abilities, what he was able to show to us, I think Volk runs away with it…”
