Alexander Volkanovski turned again the clock to reclaim the UFC featherweight belt with a win over a a lot younger Diego Lopes in April, however Patricio Pitbull doesn’t see “The Nice” having one other lengthy reign within the division.
Pitbull, a former two-division champion in Bellator who faces Dan Ige in the primary card of Saturday evening’s UFC 318 in New Orleans, expects the 145-pound legend to wrestle towards one particular kind of problem going ahead.
“A combat is a combat, clearly, however I see he doesn’t have chin anymore,” Pitbull mentioned of Volkanovski throughout an interview with MMA Combating. “He’s very athletic, he strikes very well, has nice gameplans and continues to be that difficult man to combat, lands and walks away, will get you to the cage and holds you there, but when he’s combating somebody that hits exhausting and touches him, it’ll go badly. Somebody with that fashion, [like] Aaron Pico, Jean Silva.”
Silva is 5-0 within the UFC with 4 knockouts and one submission and faces Lopes in the primary occasion of Noche UFC 3 on Sept. 13. Pico enters the UFC after 9 knockout in 13 victories beneath the Bellator and PFL banners, however had his UFC Abu Dhabi match with Movsar Evloev cancelled as a consequence of his opponent’s harm.
Pitbull admits he anticipated Lopes to be a tough match-up in the primary occasion of UFC 314, however Volkanovski had the proper technique to get again to the highest after two consecutive brutal knockout defeats to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.
“I assumed Diego Lopes may complicate issues for him too had he pushed the tempo, however the shorty one did the appropriate sport, out and in, in order that’s the trail,” Pitbull mentioned. “A tough-hitting man would possibly take Volkanovski out. I don’t suppose Evloev takes his title, he received’t have the ability to do any harm to him. It actually needs to be somebody extra aggressive.”
Pitbull misplaced his octagon debut on the identical card in April with a disappointing efficiency towards Yair Rodriguez, however nonetheless sees himself re-entering the dialog for a shot on the gold with two wins.
“I’ve no time to waste,” Pitbull mentioned. “They put me towards a top-5 and now a top-12, so the trail to the belt is open. We nonetheless have Volkanovski because the champion, Diego Lopes received’t combat for the belt now. Jean Silva is coming, and they’re going to combat one another. Perhaps Diego Lopes wins and slows down Jean Silva. If Jean Silva wins, possibly he takes a step forward and fights for the title, I consider, however moreover Jean Silva there’s additionally Evloev and Pico, who additionally got here from Bellator.
“There’s additionally Aljamain Sterling, however these guys like to select and select fights and he’s boring, so possibly he received’t combat now. Arnold Allen simply had surgical procedure and is recovering. Dan Ige and I are combating now, so it is a good second for the division. Yair Rodrigues is having surgical procedure, Diego Lopes simply misplaced, so the title is shut. With efficiency [at UFC 318] and yet another win, I consider we’d get a chance to be combating for the belt.”
