Alexander Volkanovski is still waiting to find out who he will defend his UFC featherweight title against next.
Earlier this year at UFC 314, Alexander Volkanovski once again showcased why he is one of the greatest featherweights ever when he reclaimed his title against Diego Lopes in a vacant title fight.
Following his win over the soaring Brazilian, Volkanovski revealed that his family all asked him to retire but he opted to keep his gloves on and continue on in the sport.
Despite that, there is some uncertainty surrounding ‘The Great’s’ next fight as there isn’t a clear number one contender in the division for him to fight.
Alexander Volkanovski remains adamant that Movsar Evloev should be next
Both before and after his fight against Lopes, Volkanovski made it clear that he thought the next contender after that should be the undefeated Movsar Evloev.
The Australian continuously campaigned for his next defense to come against the Russian but despite his desire to fight him, Evloev was bizarrely booked to fight Aaron Pico instead, denying Volkanovski of his desired fight.
And with that, rumors then began to surface that Volkanovski would defend his title against Yair Rodriguez again which didn’t sit well with the UFC fans.
Despite that, talks seem to have stalled and a spanner has been thrown in the works as Evloev recently withdrew from his fight against Pico, with it unclear as of now whether the promotion are looking to re-book that fight.
“I guess that’s what is happening which is unfortunate because as I’ve said I’ve made it clear that I believe he should be next, he deserves it and I know that he was gonna get the title shot if he was to win that fight so now that sort of puts a spanner in the works,” Volkanovski told Main Event TV.
“What happens from here, are they pushing the fight back, is someone gonna replace him or the winner of that fight ends up being who I face so it leaves things up in the air for me but we’ll see what happens.
“It’s all up in the air. There are some guys, if you had your Lerone Murphy, Arnold Allen, there are some other guys who are right up there, if they were to fill in as a late replacement and get a win, I’m sure the UFC are gonna (give them a title shot),” he continued.
Volkanovski recently faced off with potential future opponent
Someone who is seemingly just one more win away from challenging for the title is the soaring Jean Silva. ‘Lord’ Silva is booked to fight Lopes on September 13 in what is a huge fight in the division.
And with that, Volkanovski and Silva recently had an impromptu face off as the Fighting Nerds and City Kickboxing fighters stared each other down.
“I was just playing the part, I get along with all of them, Jean Silva’s actually a very respectful dude, good dude and the good thing is, I like it when people have character but they don’t need to make this fake beef,” Volkanovski said.