The UFC featherweight title is on the line this weekend, as Alexander Volkanovski defends his belt in a rematch with Diego Lopes.
Two-time champion Volkanovski will fight on home soil here, headlining in Australia against a man whom he beat nine months ago. Given Volkanovski’s victory over the Brazilian last April, many fans predict another win for “Alexander The Great”, but is it so simple?
Lopes, 31, scored a knockdown of Volkanovski in that five-round decision, and he will hope he can find the exact shot to put away the ageing champion in Sydney, with Volk now 37 years old.
In the co-main event, fan favourite Dan Hooker takes on Benoit Saint-Denis in what is expected to be an all-out brawl. New Zealand’s Hooker is known as one of the most-exciting fighters in the UFC, and his lightweight peer Saint-Denis is also reliable when it comes to bringing bedlam.
Should Hooker bounce back with a victory over the in-form Frenchman, he might even call for a grudge match with new rival Paddy Pimblett, with whom Hooker traded vulgar barbs this month... Here’s all you need to know:
When is UFC 325?
UFC 325 will take place on Saturday 31 January at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. The early prelims will begin at 10pm GMT (2pm PT / 4pm CT / 5pm ET), followed by the regular prelims at 12am GMT on Sunday (4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET on Saturday). The main card then starts at 2am GMT on Sunday (6pm PT / 8pm CT / 9pm ET on Saturday).
How can I watch it?
In the UK, the main card will air live on TNT Sports and is also accessible via Discovery+, EE TV, Virgin Media, Amazon Prime Video, and Sky Sports; beforehand, the early and regular prelims will stream live on UFC Fight Pass. In the US, Paramount+ will stream the main card and regular prelims, and UFC Fight Pass will provide early-prelim coverage.
Odds
Volkanovski – 4/6
Lopes – 6/5
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Fight card
Subject to change; ‘C’ denotes champion
Main card
Alexander Volkanovski (C) vs Diego Lopes 2 (featherweight title)
Dan Hooker vs Benoit Saint-Denis (lightweight)
Rafael Fiziev vs Mauricio Ruffy (lightweight)
Tai Tuivasa vs Tallison Teixeira (heavyweight)
Quillan Salkilld vs Rongzhu (lightweight)
Prelims
Junior Tafa vs Billy Elekana (light-heavyweight)
Cam Rowston vs Cody Brundage (middleweight)
Jacob Malkoun vs Torrez Finney (middleweight)
Jonathan Micallef vs Oban Elliott (welterweight)
Early prelims
Kaan Ofli vs Yizha (featherweight)
Sangwook Kim vs Dom Mar Fan (lightweight)
Keiichiro Nakamura vs Sebastian Szalay (featherweight)
Sulangrangbo vs Lawrence Lui (bantamweight)
Aaron Tau vs Namsrai Batbayar (flyweight)
