UFC 325 Odds and Predictions – Can Lopes Beat Volkanovski on Enemy Turf?

• Alexander Volkanovski (-154)
• Diego Lopes (+131)

It has been a strange couple of years for Volkanovski (27-4), who stepped up in weight to lose twice to then-lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in 2023 (the rematch was on short notice). He defended his featherweight belt against Yair Rodriguez in the same year, but was trounced by Ilia Topuria to lose his 145-pound title.

Topuria vacated the belt to move to lightweight (where he became champion), and “The Great” regained his belt against Lopes (27-7) in April 2025. While Volkanovski scored the win, Lopes gave him all he could handle, and even dropped the Australian in the second round. After knocking out Jean Silva with a spinning back elbow in September 2025, Lopes earns another shot at the featherweight champ in Volkanovski’s home country.

The experienced Volkanovski wouldn’t be lured into a brawl with Lopes in their first fight. Can he do it again? He is now 37, and at that age, I start to worry about a fighter’s chin. Suffering back-to-back knockout losses, even to a pair of all-time greats, is a cause for concern. I think Lopes learned lessons from the first tilt, and will be a bit more strategic. I’m taking Diego Lopes for the upset in my UFC 325 betting predictions!

• Dan Hooker (+260)
• Benoit St. Denis (-325)

This is a tough spot for Hooker (24-13), who had a three-fight win streak stopped with a submission loss to Arman Tsarukyan in November. He is 4-5 in his last nine fights, and sets up nicely for St. Denis (16-3), who has won three straight since back-to-back knockout losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano in 2024.

The “God of War” knocked out Beneil Dariush in his last fight, but he has 11 submission wins in his career and is a strong grappler. Hooker’s background is in kickboxing, and he is fine on the mat. But he’s definitely not as good as St. Denis, who I’m backing in my UFC 325 betting predictions.

At -305, there isn’t much of a return here. But I’ll be back later in the week with potential method of victory props, as I like a St. Denis submission win in this lightweight bout!

• Rafael Fiziev (+102)
• Mauricio Ruffy (-121)

The UFC 325 odds for this lightweight tussle between Fiziev (13-4) and Ruffy (12-2) are forecasting a close match! Fiziev has lost three of his last four, including twice to Justin Gaethje (one on short notice). The other loss came against Mateusz Gamrot when Fiziev suffered a knee injury. Ruffy had won seven in a row before running into a face crank by St. Denis in September 2025.

This should be a fun match between two fighters who don’t often go to the mat. Fiziev has eight knockout wins to his name, while Ruffy has 11. They have a grand total of one submission win between them, and that was by Fiziev way back in October 2016.

Expect a crisp striking battle between these two in a close match. It should be noted that Ruffy was plus odds at one point, especially early. However, I still like the value of Ruffy’s odds, so let’s take the Brazilian to come out on top in our UFC 325 picks!