TriStar MMA head coach Firas Zahabi thinks Alexander Volkanovski will beat Ilia Topuria, but does worry he may be returning too quickly.
Volkanovski is looking to defend his featherweight title on February 17 against Topuria. The Aussie is coming off a first-round KO loss to Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in October.
After the loss, Alexander Volkanovski will return to his natural weight class, and Zahabi believes the champ will beat Topuria, as he says he is the more well-rounded fighter.
“My pick is Volkanovski, also. Why? He’s arguably the greatest featherweight of all time, for me, it’s either him, Max (Holloway), or Jose Aldo,” Zahabi said on TriStar’s YouTube channel. “I don’t want to get into the debate of which one of them is the greatest of all time at 145lbs. But, I hear you guys, he’s arguably one of the greatest of all time, Topuria (is) a great fighter, (but he’s) only 6-0 in the UFC, he’s got six wins in the UFC, six big wins, six very impressive wins. However, he isn’t going up against just a champ, but arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in UFC today, arguably. He’s going into his first championship fight against a legend.”
Zahabi wonders if Volkanovski is returning too soon
Although Firas Zahabi is predicting Alexander Volkanovski to beat Ilia Topuria at UFC 298, he wouldn’t be surprised if the challenger pulled off the upset.
Zahabi knows Volkanovski is the better overall fighter, but the coach is worried about the Aussie coming back too soon after a KO and his chin won’t be fully healed.
“Let me tell you why I’m so excited for this fight. I have a doubt that maybe Volk is coming back too quickly after a KO. Even with that doubt, I’m still picking Volk. I’m on the Volk train, I’m just trying to make a case for Topuria. When you come back too fast, too quickly after a knockout, your pride, your desire for revenge, to redeem yourself can get the best of you. You want to right that wrong, but you went in too early and a heavy puncher like Topuria might capitalize on that. I don’t think that is going to happen, I’m just trying to give a ray of hope to Topuria because I’m seeing it’s 76 to 24% in favor of volkanovski which is stunning still. Because I thought it would be a lot closer I thought it would be.
“I think volkanovski can out strike him, I think volkanovski can out condition him, I think volkanovski can out grapple him, I think volkanovski’s ground and pound is too ferocious. I think volkanovski has way too much five round experience. Topuria did a great job in his five round fight against Josh Emmett but still volkanovski we all know is levels above. I think volkanovski is gonna out kick Topuria. The boxing is going on to be close I give a slight Edge in boxing mark,” Zahabi added.
Heading into the fight, Volkanovski is a slight -125 favorite while Topuria is a +105 underdog.
