Alexander Volkanovski | Simple, Honest, Principled

Drawing confidence from experience is a bit of a central theme to this fight for Volkanovski as the sense of ease he garnered from taking Lopes’ best shots and performing like the guy that lorded over the 145-pound weight class for half-a-dozen years is compounded with the familiarity he has with facing the same opponent for a second time.

After initially winning the title from Max Holloway at UFC 245, the duo squared off again at UFC 251 with Volkanovski still coming out ahead, but by a narrow margin. Two years later, they met for a third time, and the former rugby man ran away with things. Now, as he readies for the sequel with Lopes on Saturday, he’s back in a familiar position aware of all possibilities he needs to consider, and confident that he has the upper hand.

WATCH: UFC 325 Embedded | Countdown

“When it’s a rematch and you lost, Lopes knows he needs to make adjustments,” began Volkanovski, breaking down the particulars along the same lines as Tyson Chartier did in this week’s Coach Conversation. “Is he capable of it? I don’t know, but I need to prepare 100 percent for adjustments that we think he’ll make. I have to, so that’s what’s different about it. You know you have to make adjustments.

“It helps a lot because he’s obviously always gonna have the power threat, but I don’t need to worry about anything else, really,” he said of previously sharing the Octagon with Lopes, who landed this second opportunity following a second-round stoppage win over Jean Silva last September. “I just need to worry about that and that’s’ what I’ve always been cautious of my whole career; I’ve always looked at it as ‘their only chance is to catch me.’ … For him, when I start changing my game, he’s got a lot more to worry about. Now it’s ‘S*** ain’t going my way. What do I do?’ Is he capable of making drastic adjustments mid-fight or in 10 months? I don’t know if he’s that type of guy. Yes, he’s got that danger, got that threat, but that’s all I really need to worry about; I don’t need to worry about him puzzling me. I’m gonna know what to do in all these situations.

“I don’t know,” he said quizzically, sitting with the question for a moment. “I do mention legacy and all that sort of stuff, but I don’t know that I care about the legacy side of stuff; it’s being a champion and how I am, my mindset — I have a job to do, and I have a responsibility as champion… I want to fight the No. 1 guy — undefeated, new era, a style that’s conquering the UFC you could say with that wrestling-heavy, grappling style; that’s who I should be facing. If that doesn’t do anything for my legacy, I don’t really care because that’s my responsibility. Obviously, the UFC gave me Lopes, and all right, my job and responsibility is to do that, but there are rankings for a reason and guys that are there, and that means more.

View Volkanovski's Athlete Profile

“So the legacy? I don’t think I really do care about it. I don’t think it’s something — I think who I am and doing what I’m doing will build off that. I’ll let everybody else talk about that stuff. Maybe I can appreciate all that s*** later.”

It’s the same way that competing as close to home as possible is as much about his friends and family — if not more — than his experience and potentially adding to his stellar resume on January 31.

“That is the moment and feeling I’m looking forward to giving not only (myself), but everyone in that arena, all my family and friends,” he said of walking out to a packed house collectively singing “Land Down Under” as he strides to the Octagon. “I cannot wait for them to be able to be there in person — because they can’t come to all my fights, but for them to be able to be present for the walkout, the atmosphere, the energy—that’s something I want them to remember forever.