The UFC’s Octagon heads Down Under for UFC 325, where a card stacked with local talent looks set to entertain the Aussie fans at the Qudos Bank Arena this weekend.

Ahead of fight night in Australia, we take a look at the fight card and pick out three key questions that we’ll get answers to as the action unfolds in the Octagon on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Will it be a case of ‘rinse and repeat’ for Alexander Volkanovski?

Alexander Volkanovski was back to his best as he recaptured the undisputed featherweight title with victory over Diego Lopes at UFC 314 in Miami last April, and after his win, there was genuine excitement at what could be next for the Aussie great.

So, when his next title challenge came, it was something of a surprise when it was announced as a rematch with the man he’d just defeated. Lopes had gone away and knocked out Jean Silva in an absolute thriller at UFC San Antonio last September to earn his rematch, and now Volkanovski has the chance to underscore his dominance with a second straight win over the Brazilian.

The big question heading into this one is whether things will look any different in the rematch. Lopes has the sort of power that can turn any fight in his favor, but he couldn’t land anything to really trouble Volkanovski in the first fight.

Does he have the answer this time around? If he doesn’t, it’s hard to see anything other than another Volkanovski win.

Which lightweight savage will survive the co-main event?

Dan Hooker and Benoit Saint Denis are like two fighting brothers from different mothers. Both men love to stand and bang, and they love nothing more than a good, old-fashioned tear-up. So when the matchmakers put these two lightweight warriors together, they guaranteed a fight to remember for the Australian fight fans.

Hooker is coming off an arm-triangle submission loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC Qatar in November, but prior to that defeat, he had defeated Claudio Puelles, Jalin Turner and Mateusz Gamrot in successive outings.

Saint Denis, meanwhile, has rebounded from his back-to-back 2024 losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano. He’s now riding a three-fight win streak, with all three coming inside the distance. He submitted both Kyle Prepolec and Mauricio Ruffy in the second round of their respective bouts, while his most recent outing produced one of the most jaw-dropping wins of the Frenchman’s career, with a stunning 16-second knockout of perennial contender Beneil Dariush as he showed just how much power he possesses in four-ounce MMA gloves.

With both men’s penchant for violence, this one should deliver action by the bucketload. But who will emerge victorious? It’s going to be a lot of fun finding out.

Is Mauricio Ruffy ready to make the jump to the lightweight elite?

Is Mauricio Ruffy the real deal at 155 pounds? The lightweight knockout artist from The Fighting Nerds has already earned himself a well-deserved reputation as one of the most dangerous up-and-coming lightweights in the UFC. And in Sydney, “One Shot” will get his chance to gatecrash the lightweight elite when he takes on noted striker Rafael Fiziev in a three-round main card clash.

Fiziev is one of the most polished strikers in mixed martial arts. His array of strikes, willingness to stand in the pocket and trade, and his sheer toughness make him an incredibly dangerous opponent. But he’s also someone who isn’t going to be too hard to find, and Ruffy may see Fiziev’s phone-booth-fighting style as the perfect opportunity to showcase his own brand of spectacular striking.

He already has a bunch of highlight-reel finishes on his record, including a stunning wheel-kick finish of King Green last year. If he can repeat the feat against someone like Fiziev, expect big things to follow for the 29-year-old.

UFC 325: Fight card

MAIN CARD

Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes – for undisputed featherweight title

Dan Hooker vs Benoit Saint Denis – lightweight

Rafael Fiziev vs Mauricio Ruffy – lightweight

Tai Tuivasa vs Tallison Teixeira – heavyweight

Quillan Salkilld vs Jamie Mullarkey – lightweight

PRELIM CARD

Junior Tafa vs Billy Elekana – light heavyweight

Cam Rowston vs Cody Brundage – middleweight

Jacob Malkoun vs Torrez Finney – middleweight

Jonathan Micallef vs Oban Elliott – welterweight

EARLY PRELIMS

Kaan Ofli vs Yizha – featherweight

Sangwook Kim vs Dom Mar Fan – lightweight

Keiichiro Nakamura vs Sebastian Szalay – featherweight

Sulangrangbo vs Lawrence Lui – bantamweight

Aaron Tau vs Mansrai Batbayar – flyweight (cancelled)