Urijah Faber picks Max Holloway to beat Alexander Volkanovski in their trilogy fight at UFC 276
Urijah Faber believes Max Holloway will likely defeat Alexander Volkanovski in their trilogy matchup at UFC 276 on July 2nd. ‘Blessed’ and ‘The Great’ have already faced one another twice inside the octagon over the course of ten grueling rounds.
Alexander Volkanovski won their first fight via unanimous decision and thereby captured the UFC featherweight title in December 2019. Their rematch took place in July 2020 and witnessed 'The Great' successfully defend his title by defeating Max Holloway via split decision in a much closer fight.
@AlexVolkanovski derails the Blessed Express at #UFC245!He has DONE it! 🏆
🇦🇺 @AlexVolkanovski derails the Blessed Express at #UFC245! https://t.co/ekpfAWeQ3N
In fact, certain sections of the MMA community scored the fight in favor of Holloway and argued that the judges should’ve awarded the decision victory to the Hawaiian MMA stalwart.
Speaking to The Schmo, MMA legend Urijah Faber has now given his take on the Holloway-Volkanovski trilogy matchup.
Faber lobbied for a featherweight title shot for his longtime teammate Josh Emmett. Speaking of which, The Schmo asked ‘The California Kid’ who he sees holding the belt when Emmett does eventually receive his title shot. Faber responded by stating:
“Man, that’s hard to say. Holloway, I thought Holloway, I think it was the last one. I know I thought Holloway got at least one of those fights. So, I think it’s a two-to-one – Holloway, man, he’s been looking so impressive lately. I think I’m gonna give the edge to him.”
🏆 @AlexVolkanovski keeps the belt! #UFC251 https://t.co/a0wdLk1yPJ
Faber last fought in December 2019, losing the bantamweight bout via third-round KO against Petr Yan. While there’s been speculation that the California native could face fellow veteran fighter Cub Swanson in a ‘King of Cali’ fight next, nothing’s been officially confirmed as of yet.
Watch Urijah Faber’s conversation with The Schmo in the video below:
Chael Sonnen labels Alexander Volkanovski the featherweight G.O.A.T. , discusses Max Holloway trilogy fight
In an edition of Beyond the Fight a few weeks ago, Chael Sonnen expressed his disagreement with a statement that UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski made regarding his trilogy matchup against Max Holloway. Volkanovski opined that he’ll need to beat Holloway for the third time to become the featherweight G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time).
‘The Bad Guy’ claimed that Volkanovski’s aforesaid statement makes no sense. Nevertheless, Sonnen admitted that he’s impressed by the Australian fighter's hunger to prove something as a champion.
With that being said, 'The American Gangster' emphasized that Volkanovski is already the featherweight G.O.A.T. Touching upon the highly anticipated Holloway-Volkanovski trilogy fight, Sonnen said:
"The G.O.A.T of 145 pounds is Volkanovski. Going out and beating the guy that you've already beaten twice, that's just a silly statement. You got to beat a guy three times to be the GOAT? That makes no kind of sense."
Watch Sonnen's full take on Volkanoviski below: