EXCLUSIVE | Aussie featherweight Alexander Volkanovski makes pick for Holloway vs. Edgar fight

On November 18, when the UFC touches down in Sydney, Australia, rising UFC featherweight Alexander Volkanovski will take on Humberto Bandenay, who replaces his originally planned opponent, Jeremy Kennedy. If Volkanovski wins this fight, he’ll take another big step up the UFC featherweight rankings, toward the divisional top-10, and perhaps, an eventual featherweight title shot.

As one of the featherweight division’s brightest young contenders, Volkanovski will be watching UFC 218’s Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar featherweight title fight very closely. While Holloway is a slight favorite heading into this fight, Volkanovski sees a bit of himself in Frankie Edgar, and as such, believes Edgar has what it takes to pull off the upset.

“That’s an interesting fight,” Volkanovski said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I talked to someone about it just the other day. Man, Frankie’s a hard matchup for anyone. That’s the thing. I really like his style. I believe it’s similar to mine, where he’s got really good pressure and he really mixes it up, and he really, really gets people worried about what he’s doing rather than what they’re doing. I’m a big, big fan of that sort of stuff. So, I think he could be a tough matchup for Max, but at the same time, Max is so durable, and he’s big, and I just think he might take it in the later rounds. But I think Frankie can do it. I think he can do enough in the first few rounds to take a decision.”

Alexander Volkanovski will enter his upcoming fight with Humberto Bandenay having gone 2-0 since joining the UFC roster in November of 2016. In his first fight in the organization, a lightweight bout with Yusuke Kasuya, he won via second round TKO. In his next fight, which marked his return to the featherweight division, he produced a nice decision win over Japanese veteran Mizuto Hirota.

What do you think of Alexander Volkanovski’s prediction for UFC 218’s Holloway vs. Edgar bout? Do you think the Australian is a future top-10 featherweight?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/19/2017.