UFC 325 Preview, Prediction: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes
Next up on the calendar is UFC 325, an event that is set to take place on Saturday, January 31 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
UFC 325 will feature a total of 14 fights, including a main event for the UFC featherweight title between current title holder, Alexander Volkanovski, and the second-ranked featherweight contender, Diego Lopes.
My article will highlight the main event between Volkanovski and Lopes by discussing the odds, the fight styles and records for both fighters, plus it will also provide you with my best bet for the fight taking place on Saturday night.
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes Odds and Betting Trends
Even though Volkanovski is the current holder of the UFC featherweight title, he is not a huge favourite to defend his belt at UFC 325. As it stands, Volkanovski is a -145 favourite, while Lopes is a +120 underdog to become the new UFC featherweight champion.
Another betting market that looks as if it could go either way is whether or not this fight will go the distance. As of right now, the fight to end inside the distance is sitting at odds of -140, while the fight going the distance is listed at +100.
Alexander Volkanovski
Volkanovski enters this fight with an MMA record of 27-4 and 14-3 in the UFC. His most recent fight was in April 2025 against Lopes, whom he beat by unanimous decision. This fight was for the vacant featherweight title, which Volkanovski now holds and will defend Saturday.
Throughout his MMA career, Volkanovski has been a relatively balanced fighter, but certainly leans more towards his striking rather than his grappling. He averages 6.18 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 56 per cent, compared to 1.67 takedowns every 15 minutes and a takedown accuracy of just 34 per cent.
Diego Lopes
Lopes enters this fight with an MMA record of 27-7 and 6-3 in the UFC. His most recent fight was a win against Jean Silva in September 2025 by KO/TKO. This win against Silva is likely what set up his rematch against Volkanovski, once again for the featherweight title.
Similar to Volkanovski, Lopes has preferred his striking ability over his grappling. He averages 4.10 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 48 per cent. As for his grappling, Lopes averages 0.79 takedowns every 15 minutes and 1.7 submission attempts during the same period.
UFC 325 Prediction: Who Will Win Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes?
Volkanovski has been a little inconsistent recently, going 2-3 over his last five UFC fights. That being said, he dominated Lopes in their first fight. Volkanovski out-struck Lopes 158 to 63, so even though he was knocked down by Lopes, he still won 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 on the judges’ scorecards.
Lopes has done well to get back into a title fight, but Volkanovski looks to be on a different level. Volkanovski’s losses have come against Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev (twice), who both are top-ranked fighters in the UFC. All things considered, backing Volkanovski to win (-145) is the play.
