Former UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski has an idea how this weekend’s UFC 313 main event will go.

Volk, who will take on Diego Lopes in April for the recently-vacated UFC featherweight championship, says that 205-pound champ Alex Pereira has too much power in his hands for the once-defeated Russian Magomed Ankalaev as he backed ‘Poatan’ to extend his unbeaten streak inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“Pereira’s confidence and understanding — he’s always had a good understanding, but now an even better understanding of the grappling, takedown defense, and all that sort of stuff,” Volkanovski said on his personal YouTube channel. “And knowing that, I don’t think Magomed — even if he does get to the ground — is going to finish him, and it’s gonna go back to the feet. I think he’s gonna be able to handle that. I think he can handle that.”

Russia’s Ankalaev is, of course, no slouch on the feet having won 10 of his 19 wins by knockout but as Volkanovski explains, there are levels to this.

“On the feet, Anakalev, great fighter. Southpaw, does some great things. Can look very effective on his feet, but Pereira is insanely good on the feet,” he said.

“There’s a couple of habits that Anakalev has. You get the right guy in front of you, like Alex Pereira, and you’re doing some of the habits that you always do. He’s gonna capitalise on it straight away, or even if he picks up on these habits during a fight, he’ll capitalise pretty quickly. He is that good, he’s got that good of eyes, that composed, he’s that level-headed.”

And as for his official prediction?

“I am gonna go with the favorite on this one,” he said. “Alex Pereira, KO, I’m gonna go with TKO/KO. I don’t think it’s gonna be early rounds, [he] could definitely do it straight away. I’m thinking maybe second or third round TKO.”