Alexander Volkanovski recently praised Paulo Costa for his latest performance against Robert Whittaker ahead of his bout at UFC 302. It was an entertaining bout that saw the Brazilian lose by unanimous decision after the judges scored the bout in the former middleweight champion's favor.
'Borrachinha' is scheduled to return to the octagon at UFC 302 this Saturday, where he will take on Sean Strickland. It will be an excellent opportunity for Costa as the former middleweight champion is coming off his split decision title loss to Dricus du Plessis this past January.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, 'Volk' provided a detailed breakdown of UFC 302 and was very complimentary for how Costa looked against 'The Reaper'.
Volkanovski praised Costa for his performance and noted that he will be a tough matchup for Strickland. He said:
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"I thought that's probably the best I've ever seen Paulo Costa. I know he lost. It's just Rob Whittaker is that good that you could fight your best fight and it still wasn't enough. So if that Paulo Costa turns up, that's a hard fight for anybody, especially Sean Strickland." [3:50 - 4:07]
Check out Alexander Volkanovski's full video below:
Alexander Volkanovski discusses whether he believes Dustin Poirier will dethrone Islam Makhachev
Alexander Volkanovski recently weighed in on the UFC 302 main event between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier and whether he believes 'The Diamond' will dethrone the Dagestani.
During the aforementioned video, the former UFC featherweight champion opened up on whether anybody can defeat Makhachev, who he fought twice last year.
Volkanovski mentioned that he isn't looking past Poirier, but believes his only chance is if he catches the Dagestani off guard. He said:
"I think just Islam is gonna be too good. I think he's too safe of a fighter to make mistakes where he's gonna get caught against someone like Dustin Poirier. Dustin Poirier is a great fighter. I just think it's just...a hard fight for anybody and I don't see anybody beating Islam [Makhachev] for a while unless they catch him, right?" [11:41 - 12:00]
Check out the official UFC 302 promo below: