It's going to be a firefight - Alexander Volkanovski and Curtis Blaydes share their picks for Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje title fight

Alexander Volkanovski and Curtis Blaydes recently shared their picks for the May 7 lightweight title match between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje.

While appearing on an episode of MMA Pros Pick, the current UFC featherweight champion revealed that he is leaning towards Charles Oliveira. Volkanovski had this to say:

"I'm gonna have to go with Charles Olivera I think. You know, that's a tough one, man, because you can obviously see it going both ways. I think it's going to be a bit of a firefight. But I just feel like... you know, Charles is pretty dangerous as well. I think... he might, you know... they're going to tag each other but I think the fundamentals on Charles' end... might get him over the line."

Appearing on the same episode, Curtis Blaydes had a different take on the fight. The No.4-ranked UFC heavyweight believes Oliveira to be a better grappler, but he feels Gaethje has greater power and is more technical:

"We know Oliveira is obviously the better grappler. We know he probably wants to put the fight there just like me. So, I'm thinking if I'm Oliveira, I want to get him on the ground as early as possible. So that means Gaethje has to understand and he has to be... more aware of the takedowns... I think if he can keep it on his feet... The longer he does that, the more it's in his advantage. I think he's a much more powerful and the much more technical fighter out of the two."

You can check out the entire episode of MMA Pros Pick below:

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"I'm not worried about taking him down" - Charles Oliveira confident on defending his title against Justin Gaethje

Lightweight champion Charles Oliviera believes the power in his hands will be enough to defend his title against Justin Gaethje. It is a bold claim considering 'The Highlight' happens to be one of the promotion's most durable and aggressive fighters.

The 32-year-old Brazilian also revealed that he is trying to focus on a well-rounded game instead of just improving his ground skills.

Speaking to Ag. Fight recently, Oliveira had this to say:

"Everyone's saying, 'You have to take him down. You have to worry.' I'm not worried about taking him down brother. I have no worries, really. I believe so much in my firepower. I have firepower in my hands and I've been showing it, I've been evolving. We won a very important fight against Dustin Poirier. Do you think we were celebrating and joking? No, we sit down and analyze what I did or didn't do wrong." [Translated from Portuguese to English]

You can check out Charles Oliveira's entire interview with Ag. Fight below: