While Movsar
Evloev might not be a
favorite of UFC brass, Alexander
Volkanovski seems more than willing to give the Russian his
championship opportunity.
Advertisement
Volkanovski began his second reign as featherweight king when he
defeated Diego Lopes
via unanimous decision in the UFC
314 headliner to capture the vacant belt at the Kaseya Center
in Miami on Saturday night. The 36-year-old Aussie defied age and
survived a couple perilous moments to outduel a game Lopes, who had
won five straight Octagon appearances entering the bout.
“I feel like he was there to be hit. I feel like I could’ve done a
lot more. I just didn’t pull the trigger as much as I’d like – even
though there were shots, I just stick out the jab, and it was right
there. I could’ve done a lot more, but I’m my hardest critic,”
Volkanovski said at the post-fght press conference.
“I’ll watch it back, and then we’ll see, but obviously everyone
kind of counting me out, ‘Oh, is he done?’ Obviously I took some
shots and I didn’t go lights out. That’s good. A lot of people
probably thinking that’s what would’ve happened, so I guess I’m
glad I got to feel that bounce back from a little adversity.”
When it comes to contenders in the featherweight division, Evloev
would seem to be at the top of the list. The former M-1 Global
title holder is 19-0 as a professional, a run that includes nine
victories within the Las Vegas-based promotion. In his most recent
appearance, Evloev outpointed Aljamain
Sterling at UFC 310 in December. However, Yair
Rodriguez is also campaigning for a rematch against Volkanovski
at Noche UFC in Guadalajara, Mexico, this September.
Volkanovski, who defeated Rodriguez via third-round TKO at UFC 290
in July 2023, is open to all possibilities, though facing Evloev
has a special appeal.
“If the UFC wants to give it to [Rodriguez], I ain’t gonna stop
that for him,” Volkanovski said. “I’ll be honest, before that fight
[against Patricio
Freire], I didn’t think if he won, he would be getting a shot.
I’ll be honest, that didn’t come to mind. But now that he’s
calling, I’m not going to be the one to say no. I’m going to leave
everything to the UFC.
“Obviously, you’ve got guys like Movsar, who’s undefeated. I’d love
to take that zero. We’ve got to see what the UFC say. I even seen
him tweeting that he wants to fight someone in May and doing all
this sort of stuff, so maybe he’s had the chats and they want him
to have one more fight. So I don’t know that situation, but I’ll
see how things are. I’d love to say I want to get straight back in
there. I still do. But I’m gonna have to maybe look at a couple of
things.”
While Evloev recently stated that he would be fighting on May 17,
that card will be headlined by a welterweight clash between
Gilbert
Burns and Michael
Morales. The Russian also tweeted his congratulations to
Volkanovski following his championship victory.
“Congratulations on an excellent performance, you’re a true
champion!” Evloev wrote. “Now let’s see what your word is
worth!”
Congratulations on an excellent performance,
you’re a true champion! Now let’s see what your word is worth!
@alexvolkanovski
#UFC314— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC)
April 13, 2025
If he emerges with a clean bill of health following UFC 314,
Volkanovski would like to make a relatively quick turnaround to
defend the belt — most likely before Rodriguez’s requested
September date.
“I mean, if everything’s good, I’d probably like to go soon.
Quicker than that, to be honest. That’s probably the second fight,”
he said. “So maybe it can be, if I’m good, maybe I get the fight,
maybe July or September. Yeah, we can maybe fit in. Movsar, if they
want to do that, if they want to quickly go and I feel good, maybe
quick turnaround with Movsar if I don’t have busted hands. We’ll
see. Like I said, that was my plan. Bang, bang, bang. But I didn’t
expect to get hit this much. Credit to f—ing Diego.”
For now, Volkanovski is going to take a little time to relish his
return to the top of the mountain. After back-to-back knockout
losses, it wasn’t a give that he would be back. That’s more
significant than the championship hardware he earned on Saturday
night.
“To be honest, it’s not about the title,” Volkanovski said. “It’s
not really about the belt, but winning, staying on top, being
successful, you know what I mean? This represents a lot more. I’m
in the gym busting my ass every day. You’re sacrificing so much.
What am I doing it for? Obviously to be the best. This represents
that, which is great.”