Alexander Volkanovski – “I’ve waited long enough.” teases the interim featherweight championship fight against Diego Lopes. 

Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is done waiting! He’s ready for a clash, possibly against the current featherweight champion Ilia Topuria who was able to dethrone him, or it could be against the sweltering prospect Diego Lopes with an interim title on the line. 

Since Alexander Volkanovski tasted two consecutive brutal defeats against Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria, he has been on hiatus for almost a year. Finally, he believes that it’s time to stop cooking stakes and start cooking some featherweights. 

In an interview with The Mac Life’s Oscar Willis, Alexander Volkanovski reflected that Ilia Topuria’s priorities might not be aligned with the featherweight division right now. He might be moving up in the lightweight division to fight bigger and better competitions. So, if Ilia ascends to lightweight, Volkanovski doesn’t want to sit there and be a contender, he desires to fight for the belt. 

“Well, it is sort of is there. Obviously, I want that rematch, I mean, I just want to fight for the belt! I’m not gonna sit there and be a contender. But, I mean, if he’s not fighting (talking about Ilia Topuria) literally moving up to lightweight. He’s just like I’m done with featherweight, maybe he’s just saying things I don’t know. We’ll see, but it’s got to a point like I’ve waited long enough let’s get into it.” – Volkanovski told Oscar Willis. 

Recently, UFC middleweight Bo Nickal stated that the UFC has almost finalized the rematch between Topuria and Volkanovski at Miami Card in April, but according to the former champ, things are more perplexing than what Nickal has claimed. 

“I mean you’re seeing that everywhere! Obviously, they are the dates that I would like, I would liked earlier. Honestly, I can tell you right now that nothing is locked in, so we don’t know. So, that’s why I’m thinking what he really is saying is uncertainty, I mean the UFC is must be talking to him if that’s the case from what I’m getting, I’m not giving too much away.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious that they are trying to make something happen. So, is it gonna be a Lopes and I fight for the vacant belt or interim belt, I don’t know. ” – Volkanovski added. 

After El Matador became the first man to knockout Max Holloway at UFC 308, Topuria and Volkanovski squared off in front of the Abu Dhabi crowd, cementing the rematch between them. Diego Lopes is currently on a 05 fight-winning streak, and he has a solid win over Brian Ortega who has fought Volkanovski for the championship and had him in a tight guillotine choke in the 3rd round. If the UFC somehow conducts Topuria vs Makhachev soon, then we are almost sure to get Volkanovski against Lopes for the interim featherweight championship. 

Alexander Volkanovski is going to corner Colby Thicknesse against Aleksandar Topuria at UFC 312 Prelims. 

The rivalry between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria is only limited to the octagon, it is going beyond that.

Both fighters are ready to corner their teammates at UFC 312 prelims. Colby is training at Freestyle MMA under the head coach Joe Lopez, who is also Volkanovski’s head coach, and Aleksander Topuria is Ilia Topuria’s elder brother and coach. So, there will be a lot of tension on each corner making this fight even more anticipating. 

Also Read: Aleksandre Topuria reveals “the pressure” of being Ilia Topuria’s brother.

Despite the rivalry, Alexander Volkanovski believes it is going to be a lifetime opportunity for either fighter to show their skills in front of the world. 

“It is for the cameras, it’s for the fans and there’s a narrative that get’s people excited everyone wants to see what happens there. A few more eyes that people normally would get on their debut. It’s good, especially for Colby, because all these eyes on you! You’re gonna have me, Craig Jones, Ilia Topuria, we are going to have some big dogs in the corner.” – Volkanovski told Oscar Willis.

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