Would Alexander Volkanovski have retired if Diego Lopes beat him at UFC 314? 'The Great' answers

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski recently claimed that he would have retired if Diego Lopes emerged victorious at UFC 314.

Coming off a two-fight skid, 'The Great' looked to retain his title against Lopes at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Despite his opponent's resiliency, Volkanovski displayed dominance throughout the fight and made history by becoming the first UFC fighter 35 or older to achieve featherweight gold.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, the Australian revealed the possibility of retirement had he not retained his belt at UFC 314. He said:

"I guess I didn't look at it that deep enough. You know how I talk about there's always gonna be doubts, you're always gonna have doubts creeping in. That would only go as far as. 'what if you get caught?' I didn't let it go any deeper than that."

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He continued:

"But yeah, if I was to get knocked out again, I'm not gonna do that to my family. I'm sure I would've been thinking real hard. There could've been a good chance if I was to get knocked out in that cage, hang up the gloves definitely. My family, obviously, are waiting for me to hang up the gloves."

Check out Alexander Volkanovski's comments below:

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Jack Della Maddalena desires to fight Islam Makhachev to avenge Alexander Volkanovski

No.5-ranked welterweight fighter Jack Della Maddalena is scheduled to fight champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. Ahead of that, the 28-year-old weighed in on potentially fighting Islam Makhachev, who had expressed the desire to move up to the 170-pound division.

In his latest appearance on The Grin Reapers podcast, Della Maddalena claimed he would fight the lightweight champion to avenge fellow Australian Alexander Volkanovski's knockout loss at UFC 294. He said:

"That'd be nice. In Perth, that'd be a bit of a story like, [avenge] Volk. Anything is possible. But get through Belal and I think opportunities will present themselves."

Check out Jack Della Maddalena's comments below (9:55):

About the author

Sunil holds a Bachelor of Science degree in visual communication. He started his professional career in 2023 and has previously worked with FirstSportz and Levitate Studios, among other organizations.

Sunil was drawn to MMA by Conor McGregor, especially the Irishman’s crossover boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017. His favorite fighter is Jorge Masvidal for his wild and unorthodox approach.

Surprisingly, ‘The Notorious’ and ‘Gamebred’ do not find a place in his Mt. Rushmore, which includes Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Alex Pereira, Daniel Cormier, and Khabib Nurmagomedov. He feels ONE Championship’s Rodtang Jitmuangnon has the ability to succeed in the UFC due to his power.

Sunil is of the opinion that the UFC is not doing enough to prevent eye pokes and does not mind soccer kicks in MMA.

In his free time, he likes to watch anime and films in general. He’s also a boxing historian, having gotten into the sport watching videos of fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran.

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Edited by Sunil Krishnan