Alex Volkanovski Wants UFC Return to Be Against a Lightweight Contender

Former UFC featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski is itching to get back into the octagon. After back-to-back losses to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in Oct. 2023 and new featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in February, Volkanovski wants his return to be big.

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Volkanovski stepped into the lightweight division twice in his career, both against Makhachev. Though both were losses, the consensus was that Volkanosvki should have won the belt when he and Makhachev faced off at UFC 284 in Feb. 2023.

The second showdown went far worse, as Volkanoski lost in the first round by KO/TKO at UFC 294 in Oct. 2023. Despite challenging the lightweight champion twice and losing, Volkanosvki is angling to return to the lightweight division in his UFC return.

Volkanovski joined the “FREESTYLEBENDER” YouTube channel and host David Adesanya, to speak about what is next for him in the UFC. Though he understands challenging for the featherweight title is not likely in the cards, he has instead turned his attention to the lightweight division.

According to Volkanovski, “If they [UFC] want me to fight in March or April, I want to fight at lightweight. Give me an exciting fight … I did call out Charles Oliveira, Poirier after that. He’s a great dude, we get along. He’s obviously a big fun fight.”

Volkanosvki and Poirier would be an incredible fight, especially considering Poirier is on his way out. He recently stated he had one more fight in him before considering retirement for good, and what a fight it would be to see him step into the octagon a final time against Volkanovski.

Oliveira would be a good fight as well, considering he and Volkanosvki are both coming off a loss.

Volkanovski may have gone 1-3 in his last four fights, but he is also coming off one of the most dominant championship runs the UFC has ever seen. Dating back to when he won the featherweight belt in Dec 2019, when he defeated Max Holloway by decision, he has gone on to defend that title six times. His only loss was to Topuria.

Volkanovski was able to hang with Makhachev the first time, leading many to believe he could challenge the best at the lightweight level. The same happened with Holloway, who knocked out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, securing the BMF title.

Holloway vs. Volkanovski at lightweight for the BMF would be interesting, but the UFC is more than likely going to be booking Holloway and Topuria for the featherweight title.

Volkanovski was one of the most dominant champions the UFC had on its roster and held the No. 1 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings. Though he is coming off back-to-back losses, he is still a high-level competitor.