UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski shared his prediction for the upcoming title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje.
Topuria, the UFC lightweight champion, and Gaethje, the interim UFC lightweight champion, meet in the main event of UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House in Washington, D.C., to unify the lightweight titles. It’s a very intriguing matchup, and one that all MMA fans and fighters will be watching closely, including Volkanovski, who once fought Topuria.
Alexander Volkanovski Predicts Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel ahead of UFC Freedom 250, Volkanovski revealed his prediction for how he thinks the Topuria vs. Gaethje fight will go down.
“As soon as Gaethje opens himself up, as soon as he tries to open up and let his hands go, I believe that Ilia is going to be too sharp and just catch him. I think Topuria is safe enough and defensive enough to not fall into any of Justin Gaethje’s traps — and as soon as Gaethje opens up, game over. I think it could be that quick, as soon as he opens himself up. And I think that’s bound to happen eventually,” Volkanovski said (via Bloody Elbow).
Betting Odds for Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje
Volkanovski’s prediction of a Topuria victory over Gaethje is right in line with the current betting odds, which have Topuria pegged as a -600 betting favorite, with Gaethje as a +450 betting underdog.
Clearly, the oddsmakers and the betting public aren’t giving Gaethje much of a chance to win this fight, even though he has pulled off many upsets during his UFC career, including in his last fight, when he defeated Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 to capture the interim UFC lightweight title.
But Topuria is a different beast entirely. Not only does he have insane knockout power in his fists, but he also has an unbelievable ground game, making him one of the most dangerous pound-for-pound MMA fighters on the planet.
Gaethje does have tremendous kicks, and he has legitimate knockout power in his hands, too, so you can’t completely count him out of pulling off the upset in this fight. But all signs are pointing to Topuria getting his hand raised, and likely by knockout, as Volkanovski said he is leaning toward.
We’ll find out for sure how this fight will go when Topuria meets Gaethje in the headliner of the UFC White House card, which takes place on June 14 on Paramount+. It’s bound to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year, so don’t miss out, as all seven fights are sure to excite.
The full UFC Freedom 250 card is as follows:
- Main event: UFC lightweight title unification bout – Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje
- Co-main event: Interim UFC heavyweight title bout – Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane
- Bantamweight bout: Sean O’Malley vs. Aimeann Zahabi
- Heavyweight bout: Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis
- Lightweight bout: Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler
- Middleweight bout: Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus
- Featherweight bout: Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia
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