UFC 325: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 Predictions

UFC 325: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the Qudos Arena in Sydney, Australia. – and we’ve got our UFC predictions for all the fights below, and you can place your bets with the best betting sites Australia has to offer!

UFC 325 Predictions

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Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2 Prediction

Alexander Volkanovski won back the vacant featherweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Diego Lopes at UFC 314 in April of last year, but they’ll now head into a rematch after Lopes got back in line by TKO’ing Jean Silva.

It’s been heart-warming to see Volkanovski with the title around his waist again after a tough time that had seen him suffer two KO losses in the space of a few months against Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria, leading to him being forced into taking well over a year off to recover. When he did finally return to action there were concerns about his durability, but though alarm bells rung when he was floored late in the 2nd round, he recovered and was able to best Lopes over five rounds to add to his already impressive legacy. There’s still lingering question-marks about how much longer he’ll compete though, but the now 37-year-old has been keen to dismiss that. Volkanovski has already proven that he’s the superior striking technician compared to Lopes, drawing on his fight IQ, excellent distance management, cardio and crisp, compact striking to edge out the exchanges, but it’s still a risky rematch at this stage in his career as Lopes will be eagerly hunting down opportunities to test his chin again.

The 31-year-old Lopes may have lost their previous encounter, but he had some good moments in what proved to be a ‘Fight Of The Night’ performance against a legend of the division.  His spinning back fist KO of Jean Silva since then was also a confidence-building reminder that he can get the better of anyone on his night. It does still feel like there’s a gap in terms of technical polish and in-fight strategy that’s going to continue to be a challenge for him, but he has proven he can go five rounds against the champ and will have learned a lot from that experience, and with his rugged durability he’ll be hard to finish while looking for his moment to land a fight-ending blow.

Volkanovski isn’t getting any younger, and so key attributes like his speed and timing could start to decline at any time, leading to more of a chance of his weakened chin being caught. It’s still a winnable fight for him, but it’s a risky one given Lopes’ power and tenacity. So Lopes has the better chance of finishing the fight and could serve up a scare of two, but I still think Volkanovski can walk the tightrope by carefully out-striking and outmanoeuvring Lopes for 25 minutes to again emerge victorious by decision.

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Dan Hooker vs. Benoit Saint Denis Prediction

Dan Hooker had won three fights in a row prior to his submission loss against Arman Tsarukyan a couple of months ago. Now he’s quickly back in action against Benoit Saint Denis, who had lost back-to-back fights in 2024, but rebounded strongly last year with three stoppage victories in a row.

It’s interesting to note that just this week the 35-year-old Hooker revealed that last time out Tsarukyan actually broke his nose with a headbutt during their weigh-ins staredown. It perhaps wasn’t the best idea to still compete after that, but in all fairness the evidence suggests he would still have been soundly beaten regardless of the injury.  Even so, it just goes to show that he is uncommonly tough. Hooker is tall and rangy for the 155lb division, but on this occasion will only have a negligible 1″ height and 2.5″ reach advantage over BSD. Hooker is a rugged, action-orientated striker who makes good use of all eight limbs, and has found finishes with each over the years. As the Tsarukyan incident illustrated, Hooker’s own personal health and safety is not his first concern and so whether he’s winning or losing he tends to eat a lot of strikes along the way. That’s clearly not ideal, and particularly now he’s at that stage of his career where his many wars start to take their toll. Still, Hooker does also have capable offensive wrestling and submission chops, though he has also lost via submission on three occasions.

Saint Denis also cultivated a reputation as a tough action-fighter during his early romp through the UFC’s lightweight ranks. A potent mix of offensive striking and grappling, together with a sturdy chin, saw the former French Army Special Forces member register five stoppage wins in a row between 2022-2023. However, a KO loss to Dustin Poirier followed by a TKO defeat to Renato Moicano derailed his hype train and suggested that BSD’s willingness to walk through strikes was no longer an advisable option. Saint Denis wisely proceeded with caution, leaning on his solid ground game in his next couple of fights to earn submission wins.  And it should be noted that this was also a hallmark of his strategy on the regional circuit too, where the vast majority of his victories also came via subs rather than strikes. Then last time out he took advantage of Beneil Dariush’s notoriously fragile chin to KO him in just 16 seconds. Doubts still remain about his own durability if he gets caught in a firefight though.

Hooker will fancy his chances if he can turn this into a stand-up war, but it’s not a guaranteed route to victory as BSD is the naturally heavier hitter. Saint Denis has shown he’s smart enough to fight to his best advantage though, and so I do think he’ll look to take Hooker down, where I feel he can work his way to a second round submission finish.

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Rafael Fiziev vs. Mauricio Ruffy Prediction

After three losses in a row, Rafael Fiziev got back on track last time out with a decision victory and now fights Mauricio Ruffy, who conversely saw his three-fight winning streak broken in his last Octagon appearance.

While Fiziev has only won once in his last four fights, it’s not quite as bad as it looks. There was no shame in losing narrowly by majority decision to Justin Gaethje in 2023, and his TKO loss against Mateusz Gamrot was only due to suffering an ACL injury that would then keep him out for a year-and-a-half. It’s not easy to bounce back from an injury like that, and he did come off second-best in his rematch with Gaethje upon his return last year, but his subsequent win over Ignacious Bahamondes has rebuilt some confidence. The 32-year-old is still a very skilled muay thai striker with a dynamic kicking game that benefits from his natural athleticism, speed and agility. He’s also assured defensively and has excellent balance to aid his solid takedown defense. Fiziev’s high-energy style can wear on his cardio in the later rounds however.

The 29-year-old Ruffy made an immediate impression upon arriving in the UFC back in 2024, with his impressive striking acumen leading him to a 1st round TKO finish of Jamie Mullarkey, while a couple of fights later he KO’d King Green with a spinning wheel kick. With speed, power and poise, he appeared to have all the tools offensively, though his striking defense wasn’t as convincing and his ground game largely untested. That was until he fought Benoit Saint Denis last time out, who was able to exploit his very underwhelming defense on the mat to lock in a submission finish. So, Ruffy certainly has work to do in that regard, and though this particular match-up seems to suit him stylistically, he will have to be wary of Fiziev’s ability to mix in a takedown or two.

A well-matched technical striking battle does seem most likely here, and Ruffy will have the benefit of an extra 3″ in height and 4″ in reach, while Fiziev has the edge in experience, including an extensive background in muay thai competition. In the end though I think Ruffy is less battle-worn and is the harder-hitter of the two, and together with having a bit more left in the tank late on in the fight I’ll say he battles to a close decision victory.

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Tai Tuivasa vs. Tallison Teixeira Prediction

Tai Tuivasa is in a bad spot after having suffered five defeats in a row, and now goes up against Tallison Teixiera, who earned a 35 second TKO victory in his UFC debut, only to then be TKO’d in 35 seconds by Derrick Lewis next time out.

The 32-year-old Tuivasa has a background in kickboxing and has decent fundamentals when he chooses to use them, but at heart he’s a crowd-pleasing, heavy-handed brawler who doesn’t need much persuasion to just start slugging it out until someone falls over. With 13 of his 14 career victories coming via strikes he’s always a threat, and at his peak managed to finish five fights in a row in the Octagon. However, the start of his current losing slump began with back-to-back KO defeats, followed by two submission losses that showed the lack of improvement in his ground game over the years. And though his latest defeat was only by split-decision against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, the result was considered controversial since everyone other than one judge believed that it was a shut-out for his opponent. Tuivasa has been out for a year-and-a-half since then, claiming that he was suffering from ‘burnout’ and needed time to re-group, so it remains to be seen if he’ll be suffering from ring-rust on Saturday night..

The 26-year-old Teixiera is big even by heavyweight standards, giving him a distinct 6″ height and 8″ reach advantage over the thicker built Tuivasa. Prior to his last Octagon outing he had won all 8 of his career fights inside the distance, primarily via strikes, using all eight long limbs to good effect with a versatile offensive arsenal to keep his opponents guessing, while also having showed his black-belt BJJ credentials with an inverted triangle armbar submission finish in his first ever fight. However, Teixeira’s level of opposition had been low, and his habit of leaving his chin exposed was a cause for concern heading into his most recent fight against Derrick Lewis, and sure enough led to a swift TKO loss.

I’m not convinced that Teixeira will have been able to break his bad defensive habits prior to this fight, and Tuivasa certainly has what it takes to send the Brazilian’s head into orbit with a single big punch if he leaves his chin out.  This really could go either way once fists start flying, but I’ll take Tuivasa to land a decisive knockout blow in the opening round.

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Quillan Salkilld vs. Jamie Mullarkey Prediction

Quillan Salkilld is 3-0 in the UFC so far and now takes on Jamie Mullarkey, who won his last fight in September, but had lost twice prior to that.

The 26-year-old Salkilld entered the UFC via the Contender Series and made enough of an impact in 2025 to win the UFC’s awards for both the UFC’s ‘Debut Of The Year’ award (after a 19 second TKO victory over Anshul Jubli), and also the overall ‘Rookie Of The Year’ too, which was cemented after KO’ing Nasrat Haqparast with a head kick last time out. Salkilld is now 10-1 overall in his career, and has proven to be a well-rounded fighter so far. He’s athletic, has accurate punches and is very comfortable throwing kicks too, and though he only had a couple of finishes via strikes prior to joining the UFC, he’s shown good power in the Octagon. Salkilld is also a determined wrestler too, and though he was submitted in his first ever fight, he’s gone on to notch up three submission wins of his own.

The 31-year-old Mullarkey has been solid enough to stick around in the UFC since 2019, but his 6-6 record sums up the fact that beyond decent power and respectable wrestling he’s lacked the kind of skill and athleticism necessary to push to the next level in the UFC. To be fair he has beaten veterans like Michael Johnson and John Mackdessi on the scorecards, but typically when he goes up against notable opponents he comes off second-best. And a real problem for Mullarkey is his durability as 6 of his 8 career defeats have come via strikes, including back-to-back 1st round TKO victories in the recent past.

It feels like Salkilld is holding all the aces here, whether that’s in terms of technical ability, athleticism, power or durability, and so I think he’ll deliver a first round TKO finish here.

UFC 325: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 Prelims

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(Predicted winners in bold)

Junior Tafa vs. Billy Elekana
Cameron Rowston vs. Cody Brundage
Jacob Malkoun vs. Torrez Finney
Jonathan Micallef vs. Oban Elliott
Kaan Ofli vs. Yi Zha
Kim Sang-wook vs. Dom Mar Fan
Keiichiro Nakamura vs. Sebastian Szalay
Sulang Rangbo vs. Lawrence Lui
Aaron Tau vs. Namsrai Batbayar