Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is envisioning a strong return to competition for his teammate and friend Israel Adesanya later this month.
Adesanya hasn't competed since losing the middleweight title in surprising fashion against Sean Strickland last September at UFC 293 in Sydney. He subsequently pointed to a high level of activity when announcing plans for an extended layoff.
That break comes to an end in less than two weeks' time, with "The Last Stylebender" set for the chance to achieve three-time champ status when he returns to action back on Australian soil.
At UFC 305 on August 17, Perth's RAC Arena will play host to Adesanya's comeback fight opposite reigning 185-pound kingpin Dricus Du Plessis.
The South African has continued to prove his detractors wrong on MMA's biggest stage, first by earning top contender status with a win over Robert Whittaker last year and then by dethroning Strickland this past January in Canada.
In Adesanya, though, Volkanovski thinks "Stillknocks" will arrive at a hurdle too tall...
During an interview with talkSPORT MMA while in Manchester for UFC 304 late last month, Volkanovski looked ahead to the promotion's next numbered event, which takes place in his home country Down Under.
"Alexander the Great," an occasional teammate of Adesanya's at City Kickboxing in New Zealand, is expecting the former two-time champ to have gold wrapped around his waist to close out the card on August 17.
And to do so, Volkanovski is predicting the kind of performance that Adesanya put in to claim the title for the first time in 2019 and record his second defense a year later.
We're gonna see him coming back; I think he's gonna look incredible," Volkanovski said. "Dricus is a tough guy, great fighter. But I think this Israel that's gonna turn up is gonna be one of those — you know, when he comes back and you see a Paulo Costa performance, or even the first Robert Whittaker performance.
With talk of a bulked-up physique and improvements behind closed doors since returning to training earlier this year, Adesanya will look to show that he's got plenty left in the tank by returning to the middleweight throne in emphatic fashion.
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