Alexander Volkanovski is backing Max Holloway to beat Mexico's top-ranked contender Yair Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night this weekend.
Former champion Holloway headlines Las Vegas on November 13 against gutsy Mexican Rodriguez in an entertaining featherweight clash.
And the Aussie UFC star - currently enjoying a well-deserved break after his bruising victory over Brian Ortega - has tipped Holloway, 29, to extend his winning streak to two on Saturday night.
Volkanovski and Holloway have shared the cage on two occasions thus far, with Alexander The Great twice getting his hand raised albeit with the second fight more controversial than the first.
But a third fight between them has yet to materialise and Volkanovski - who has never actually lost in the UFC - backed his bitter rival to win.
Volkanovski, 33, told James Lynch: “Max Holloway. I think Max Holloway will be too much; too much pressure.
"Yair likes to fight on the outside and again, he’s the type of guy, you give him room to move, you stand in front of him and let him work at a range he’s comfortable at, mate, he looks like an absolute weapon.
"But you take that away from him, then obviously he has to try and think on the fly a little bit and that’s not really [his strength].
"So, the pressure that Max will bring will definitely make it hard for Yair.”
The two 145-pounders previously met in 2019, where the Australian dethroned the American in what was considered a massive upset at the time. They then ran it back a year later, with the result almost exactly the same the second time round.
Volkanovski spends most of his training camps at Team City Kickboxing in Auckland and is a long-time sparring partner of UFC middleweight and champion Israel Adesanya, 32.
Adesanya recently got up early to watch Volkanovski defeat Ortega at UFC 266.
And The Last Stylebender couldn't believe what he had just witnessed...
Adesanya said on YouTube: “[Volkanovski is] the greatest f****** featherweight of all-time.
“That was beautiful. Like I said in the breakdown – well, I didn’t say much – but I said you don’t know Alex. You keep doubting him, he doesn’t get tired. He didn’t have us, he didn’t have the whole squad for this camp.
“But I was watching the work he was doing through Instagram and private videos and I could see – he’s not going to get tired. He’s just a workhorse.
“Like he said, he’s just a regular dude who works f****** hard. Well deserved and put some respect on his name, man.”
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