Jon Anik thinks Alexander Volkanovski can separate himself from every other featherweight at UFC 314.

Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) and Diego Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will compete for the vacant title in Saturday's main event at Kaseya Center from Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+).

The former five-time defending featherweight champion will look to reclaim his title after losing it to Ilia Topuria by knockout at UFC 298. If Volkanovski is successful, Anik sees him solidifying his status as the greatest featherweight of all time.

"The way you and I and others feel about Diego Lopes, beating a prime Diego Lopes right now to regain the throne on the backend of everything that Volkanovski has done, for me, would make him cemented as the most decorated featherweight champion of all time," Anik told MMA Junkie. "I think it's hard when you company anyone to Jose Aldo, because I can barely be in the room with the guy, I get so star struck. I've called basically Volkanovski's entire career."

Jose Aldo faced a similar situation to Volkanovski. "The King of Rio" defended his UFC featherweight title seven times in his first reign and was able to claim the interim title – which was later promoted to an undisputed title after beating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200.

But Anik sees Volkanovski defeating Lopes topping that.

"We'll see what happens," Anik said. "If he can get by Diego Lopes, I would have a hard time arguing Jose Aldo."

Volkanovski will look to rebound after back-to-back knockout losses to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Topuria. Not only is he up against the statistic of fighters being 35 and older having a low win percentage, but fighters entering title bouts off back-to-back losses are 0-5.

"It's going to be interesting to see what version of Volkanovski shows up here," Anik said. "I think one segment of the fan base and the pundit base who believes this time off is going to result in a prime Alexander Volkanovski showing up, and that maybe he didn't lead the league in MMA miles per UFC. Then another segment of people feel like he's in the twilight of his career.

"And that's why they play the games. I tend to lean more towards we're going to get a prime Volkanovski and the issue might just be that Diego Lopes is an absolute killer. I just feel like the vibe I'm getting from Volk, the preparation, the time off – I think he's going to perform as good as ever. Not sure it'll be enough. We'll find out."

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jon Anik: UFC 314 win would cement Alexander Volkanovski as most decorated 145-pound champ

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