Alexander Volkanovski supports his former opponent's victory at UFC 307

Even if he is 38 years old, getting past Jose Aldo is no easy task.

That's what rising bantamweight contender Mario Bautista faced in his return to the Octagon at UFC 307 this Saturday, fighting a former featherweight champion seven years his senior and twice as experienced.

Bautista (14-2) is on an impressive six-fight winning streak at 135 pounds, which has oddsmakers pegging him as a slight favorite over veteran Aldo (32-8), who is putting in a top-notch performance against another young player in Jonathan Martinez UFC 301 and defeated him by decision in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro in May.

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Once the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, Aldo has fallen short a number of times since his title loss to Conor McGregor in 2015. He only lost to former world champions, including Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski in 2019.

Volkanovski, now competing in a second division since Aldo was moved down to bantamweight following the loss, refuses to count his former opponent against an up-and-coming contender in Bautista and believes a fighter of a different level is required to get above Aldo to triumph.

“I’ll go with Aldo,” Volkanovski said on his phone YouTube channel. “We saw that he didn’t slow down too much. He looked great in his last fight. In his last fight he was a young, hungry guy and he could easily outwork him. I don't care if people do that.” He says he's getting older for them to control him because his takedown defense will be too solid and then he'll be pretty good on his feet.

“I can't see [you beating Aldo] unless you are one of the elite. And I'm not saying Bautista isn't, but I mean he has to show me that. I may not have studied this topic enough, but I have yet to see an elite fighter. I think the elite fighters are the only ones who can take advantage of Aldo, even though he's been in the game for so long. I think you still have to be elite to capitalize on your long experience in the game.”

From Max Holloway at featherweight to Petr Yan at bantamweight, even these elite fighters have lost a round or two to Aldo in title fights. Volkanovski himself went the distance with Aldo years ago and predicts the Brazilian will be too much for Bautista, who previously lost to top contender Cory Sandhagen.

“I think it’s a good underdog bet,” Volkanovski said of Aldo. “I will make the decision here. I think he's still got it. Again, you have to show me that you're one of the elite to take him down. Let’s see if Mario will be at that level, or let’s see if Aldo has made it.” So much has fallen since the last one, which wasn’t that long ago.

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