"Will be happy to welcome you back" - Alexander Volkanovski respectfully offers to be Conor McGregor's next opponent but fans doubt whether the Irishman will ever compete again

Alexander Volkanovski and Conor McGregor engaged in a level-headed exchange on Twitter that ended on a respectful note. The current UFC featherweight champion and No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world offered to be the Irishman's opponent whenever he decides to make the octagon walk again.

It all began when 'The Notorious' poked fun at Volkanovski in light of the potential super-fight between the Australian and Islam Makhachev. McGregor belittled the pay-per-view selling abilities of the two combatants who laid the foundation for the Dagestani's first title defense in Australia next year.

Volkanovski responded to Conor McGregor's comments by alluding to a previous quote by the Irishman. He captioned the post:

"A former wise man once said…"

McGregor responded to the tweet by claiming that in all sincerity, he respects the position that 'The Great' is in right now and added that he will be back in no time to test himself against the 145-pound champion:

"Just watching and monitoring mate. That’s all. Happy for you in the spot tbh. I’ll be back. This is not over. You know."

Volkanovski reciprocated the remark by pointing out that there was mutual respect between the combatants and offered to be McGregor's next opponent:

"Respect brother. Will be happy to welcome you back."

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Fans doubt whether Conor McGregor will ever compete again

While Conor McGregor remains confident that he will be returning to fighting in the octagon soon, fight fans are still in a quandary. Reports that the Irishman was not tested by the USADA in 2022 and unintelligible sparring footage have all added to the concerns of his beloved fans.

Several fans hopped on to the Twitter exchange between the former UFC two-division champion and Alexander Volkanovski to reject McGregor's claim. One fan advised Volkanovski to ignore the Dubliner:

"He didn't mean it champ, he's just an actor now. he was just acting."

Another fan wrote:

"He is an actor now. Top shelf at that."

@combat_insider wrote:

"You won’t be back any time soon, ur not even in the testing pool."

Yet another fan advised McGregor to retire:

"I believe Conor should retire, he has everything any fighter could achieve, name and money, besides I don’t think he can beat any top fighter! The sport left him behind."

Check out some of the best fan reactions below: