Alexander Volkanovski is still not finished with his lightweight aspirations, including his goal to someday beat pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev. According to the Australian fighter, all these things will be pursued in the future after he gives Ilia Topuria his first loss.
Volkanovski is now gearing up for his UFC 299 match against Topuria on February 17. The 27-year-old will attempt to dethrone the champ and continue his winning streak, but Volkanovski is determined to shut down doubters and prove he’s still in his prime. Despite Topuria reminding him of his age, the 35-year-old knows that he can come out of the cage with the belt still on his waist.
After that, Volkanovski’s plan is to attempt to fight under the 155-pound class weight again and excel in the said division. To recall, “The Great” faced Makhachev in his last fight at UFC 294 in a lightweight bout. It was the second time the featherweight champ faced the lightweight counterpart, who he first fought at UFC 284. Unfortunately, both of his fights against the Russian fighter ended in losses. The results, nonetheless, do not discourage Volkanovski from hoping for a third fight against his conqueror.
Although the Australian knows that it would take time to get that chance again, he believes his win over Topuria will lead that way.
“I’m a realist, and I’m not expecting a rematch straightaway, you know what I mean?” Volkanovski said in a recent interview. “But that’s definitely something, and everyone’s gonna see that, you know, they’re gonna be the age thing and all that, you know, obviously there’s gonna be some people doubting ‘Oh, you know, is his time done?’ Which is hyping up this fight, so I’m all good with it. But everyone’s gonna be reminded, and then everyone’s gonna be switching, you know, full 180 saying there’s nothing left for me in 145, and they want me to go take that lightweight belt.
“So that’s what I’m gonna plan on doing. I’m going go out there and take care of Ilia, and then we’ll see what’s next, but lightweight’s definitely in the near future.”
