Latest news with #Volkanovski
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Alexander Volkanovski pressures Jon Jones to 'just retire' amid Tom Aspinall hesitancy
Alexander Volkanovski pressures Jon Jones to 'just retire' amid Tom Aspinall hesitancy Alexander Volkanovski says fellow UFC champion Jon Jones needs to make a decision on his fighting future. Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) is yet to unify his heavyweight title with interim champ Tom Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC), and with his continuously uncertain answers, many are wondering if he'll ever fight again. UFC CEO Dana White said Jones agreed to fight Aspinall, but with the fight still not official, Aspinall insists he's ready to move on. UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski (27-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) doesn't like the idea of Jones getting to hold onto the belt while he decides what's next. Jones hasn't competed since finishing Stipe Miocic last November at UFC 309. "If you're the champ, you defend your belt. It's a responsibility," Volkanovski said on the Overdogs Podcast. "You can't just sit out. You need to be reasonably active. You need to fight whoever's there. If you've got an interim champ, it's a no-brainer. So, I don't want to throw heaps of shade, but look, I know he's proved himself. "Everyone's like, 'Look what he's done, it's fine.' No, not really. Don't hold up the division just because. I know your resume is incredible. You're considered the greatest of all time, we get that. So, if you don't want to fight, just retire, you're done. Or if you want big fights, you're going to have to vacate the title." During his first UFC featherweight title reign, Volkanovski remained active. He competed in six title fights from April 2022 to February 2024, before opting to take a break after back-to-back knockout losses. After losing his belt to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298, he reclaimed his featherweight title by defeating Diego Lopes for the vacant belt at UFC 314.
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Fresh Alexander Volkanovski revelation could provide hint at UFC return date
Alexander Volkanovski could be in line for an October return to the cage due to a combination of personal matters and a reshuffled UFC schedule. Volkanovski had been linked to a featherweight title defence against Mexico's Yair Rodriguez in September, at a Mexican-centric pay-per-view at Arena Guadalajara on 13 September. However, the arena has faced construction issues, meaning the UFC's 'Noche' event will now take place in San Antonio, Texas, and will be a standard Fight Night rather than a pay-per-view. Instead, a pay-per-view will take place on 4 October in Las Vegas. And that could mark Volkanovski's return, with the Australian having said September would have proved difficult in any case, due to the expected birth date of his next child. 'What's next for me? Nothing's too clear,' Volkanovski told UFC Australia & New Zealand. 'There's a lot of moving parts. Obviously before, I was thinking it's going to be Movsar [Evloev], but I think he's fighting. He mentioned him fighting [this summer]. 'Hearing Yair's name getting mentioned a fair bit, just the date of September has... you know... but that's just probably not the best date. Obviously, I'm having a baby that month, so if we could work around that, that would be better. 'So, we'll just see what's happening. Again, a lot of moving parts. We're planning on having a chat with the boss Dana [White, UFC president] and Hunter [Campbell, UFC CBO] very soon, so we'll see what's going on.' Volanovski, 36, regained the featherweight belt in April, recovering from a knockdown to outpoint Diego Lopes. Volkanovski had previously lost the title in February 2024 after a long reign, suffering a knockout by Ilia Topuria. Topuria vacated the title this February, however, and is now preparing to fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt. As such, Volkanovski and Lopes were paired in a clash for the vacant featherweight strap. Volkanovski's first reign, which began in December 2019, saw the Aussie retain the belt five times. His final successful title defence in fact came against Rodriguez in July 2023, as Volkanovski dominated and stopped the 32-year-old, who was interim champion at the time. Many fans have expressed frustration at Rodriguez being linked to another title shot, and against Volkanovski specifically, given the Mexican is only 1-1 since his first bout with 'Alexander The Great'. However, with Topuria leaving the 145lb division and Evloev saying he will not be fighting for the belt next, Rodriguez is seemingly the only viable challenger at the moment. No 1-ranked Max Holloway is scheduled for a trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier at lightweight in July, and he is expected to stay at that weight going forward. Furthermore, Holloway has already fought and lost to Volkanovski three times.
USA Today
06-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Merab Dvalishvili not interested in taking 'big risk' of fighting Alexander Volkanovski
Merab Dvalishvili not interested in taking 'big risk' of fighting Alexander Volkanovski Merab Dvalishvili isn't willing to chase UFC dual-champ status as long as Alexander Volkanovski holds the featherweight title. Bantamweight champion Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) rematches Sean O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 316 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Many fighters have opted to move up a division in attempt to capture a second UFC belt, most recently Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria. However, Dvalishvili admits that Volkanovski (27-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) may not be the best stylistic matchup for him to attain that goal. "I mentioned a couple of times that I don't want to fight with Alexander Volkanovski because he's way stronger than me," Dvalishvili said to Volkanovski on FOX Sports Australia. "I don't want to take a big risk. I'm good. Even if this weight cut sucks, I'd rather kill myself to make this weight and be comfortable here. I'm good. I don't want to (fight him). Then we can cook peacefully and wish each other the best." Volkanovski featured Dvalishvili in one of his "Cooking with Volk" VLOGS this past year, and the pair plan on collaborating again. "I appreciate that, mate. The respect is mutual, anyway," Volkanovski responded to Dvalishvili. "You're a legend. I can't wait to see you, and good luck this weekend."
USA Today
06-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Alexander Volkanovski provides update on next UFC fight: 'The rumors are pretty much true'
Alexander Volkanovski provides update on next UFC fight: 'The rumors are pretty much true' UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski expected Movsar Evloev to be his next challenger – but it appears he won't be. Prior to defeating Diego Lopes to claim the vacant featherweight title at UFC 314, Volkanovski (27-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) said he was willing to make his first title defense against Evloev (19-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in September. However, the promotion opted to go a different direction. With Noche UFC originally set to take place in Guadalajara, Mexico in Sept. 13 before moving to San Antonio, Texas, rumors swirled that Yair Rodriguez (19-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) is likely next for Volkanovski. "It's pretty clear that it wasn't going to be Movsar," Volkanovski told FOX Sports Australia. "That's who I thought it would be. Obviously, him being undefeated and on the sort of a tear that he's on, but I think they've matched him up. You've seen him tweet something about that. So, he already went out and made that public that he unfortunately can't fight for the title. "Yair's name has popped up. No dates are set right now. So, again, I think it's just a lot of moving parts all through the whole division. I think there's a lot happening right now. So, we'll see what's happening. We'll see what comes up. All I can really tell you is everyone pretty much knows the situation, and the rumors you're hearing are pretty much true, but nothing's locked in." Rodriguez in the title picture may come as a surprise to many since he is 1-2 in his past three fights. After back-to-back losses to Volkanovski for the featherweight title then Brian Ortega, "El Pantera" rebounded with a unanimous decision win over former Bellator champion Patricio Freire at UFC 314.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Alexander Volkanovski's UFC title reign up in the air as champion is denied preferred fight
Alexander Volkanovski 's next fight is up in the air, after the UFC champion's preferred challenger declared he is fighting a fellow contender this summer. Volkanovski reclaimed the featherweight throne in April, outpointing Diego Lopes to win the belt that Ilia Topuria vacated in February. Twelve months earlier, Topuria knocked out Volkanovski to become champion, ending the Australian's four-year reign. And Volkanovski, looking to build a strong second stint with the belt, had made clear his desire to defend the gold against Movsar Evloev first. The Russian is unbeaten at 19-0 and last fought in December, outpointing ex-bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. Evloev was the most obvious next challenger for Volkanovski, 36, but the 31-year-old tweeted on Thursday (22 May): 'If you are a UFC fighter and believe you are the best in the world then you have fight every fight they throw at you. 'No risk no reward. See you guys in July, it's ON #AbuDhabi. '@alexvolkanovski thank you Champ for trying to fight me, I will fight in July and you fight in September, hopefully we both win and we can meet in December.' It is suspected that Evloev could face new signing Aaron Pico, 28, who has joined the UFC from Bellator, while Volkanovski's next challenger may be Yair Rodriguez through a process of elimination. While Volkanovski beat the Mexican handily in 2023, stopping him in round three, Rodriguez recorded a significant win against former Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull last time out. Admittedly, that decision victory only snapped a two-fight losing streak for Rodriguez, who was submitted by Brian Ortega after his defeat by Volk. However, the only fighters above the 32-year-old in the rankings are: Topuria, who has moved up to challenge for the lightweight strap; Lopes, who just lost to Volkanovski; and Max Holloway, who is booked to fight at lightweight in July (and who Volkanovski has beaten three times). Furthermore, with the UFC having booked its pay-per-view main events for June, July and August, the next free headline slot is September's UFC 320 in Mexico – Rodriguez's home country. But there are ongoing issues with the new Arena Guadalajara, meaning the event could yet be moved. UFC 320 has already suffered a setback, with a boxing super-fight between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Terence Crawford being moved from 12 September to 13 September, the same night as the UFC show. That is despite a plan for UFC president Dana White to co-promote the boxing event with Saudi adviser Turki Alalshikh. With both fight cards playing out on the same night, it seems unlikely that White will be involved in Canelo vs Crawford. It is unclear what that means for his new working relationship with Alalshikh under TKO Boxing.
