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Dana White recently discussed the possibility of UFC featherweight (145-pound) champion Alexander Volkanovski potentially moving up in weight and trying to capture the UFC lightweight (155-pound) title.
Speaking to The Mac Life, White suggested that he’d be open to Volkanovski moving up to lightweight and attempting to achieve champ-champ status.
Nevertheless, the UFC president insinuated that before moving up to lightweight, ‘The Great’ would have to get past longtime rival Max Holloway in their upcoming trilogy fight. Addressing Volkanovski’s recent statements whereby the featherweight kingpin hinted at going after the lightweight title, White stated:
“So, Volkanovski is one of those guys who has earned the respect of everybody, I would say, by now. You know, he’s got this Holloway fight that probably makes sense for him to do this and put this behind him. Then you don’t have to hear about it anymore, and that guy can do whatever he wants to do. I mean, if he wants to move up and challenge somebody at ’55 or whatever he wants to do, I’m down for whatever he wants.”
Volkanovski already holds a pair of victories over Holloway, having beaten ‘Blessed’ via unanimous decision in 2019 and via split decision in 2020. Both fights were closely-contested matchups. On that note, ‘The Great’ has vowed to put a decisive end to his rivalry with Holloway in their trilogy matchup that’ll take place at UFC 276 on July 2.
Watch Dana White address Alexander Volkanovski’s champ-champ aspirations at the 8:28-minute mark in the video below:
Josh Thomson on Alexander Volkanovski potentially fighting Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev
The consensus is that former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will fight Islam Makhachev for the vacant UFC lightweight title later this year. On the Weighing In podcast, former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson recently broke down how Alexander Volkanovski would fare against Oliveira and Makhachev at lightweight.
Thomson highlighted Volkanovski’s impressive athletic resume, his past as a rugby player, and his exceptional speed, which could trouble Oliveira and Makhachev.
Thomson added that ‘The Great' would put up a tough fight against both Oliveira and Makhachev. Regardless, the former UFC fighter foresees both lightweight elites beating Volkanovski.
Furthermore, Alexander Volkanovski’s coach Eugene Bareman recently asserted that Oliveira’s well-roundedness makes him a tougher fight for 'The Great' compared to Makhachev. Thomson disagreed with Bareman’s assessment and said:
“If you’re Volkanovski’s coach, he’s probably going, ‘Man, Oliveira’s probably a tough fight. The speed of latching onto the neck and those type of things.’ Maybe he thinks that Volkanovski can get out from underneath Islam. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but either one of them is going to give him a really, really tough fight.”
Watch the full episode of the Weighing In podcast below:
