UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski addressed his UFC status amid retirement rumors when speaking to Uncrowned’s Ariel Helwani on Monday.
The stocky veteran returned from back-to-back knockout losses to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria to defeat Diego Lopes by decision last April to reclaim the UFC featherweight title.
Advertisement
On Jan. 31, he returns to the Octagon for a rematch against Lopes at UFC 325, in front of his hometown fans at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney — 90 minutes from where he lives in Australia.
“I don’t know where that came from, exactly,” Volkanovski said on “The Ariel Helwani Show” of rumblings of his looming retirement.
“How many more do I have? If I was to get beaten up [by Lopes], am I going to come back to fight? No. But that’s not my plans. Unless things go horrendously wrong, I’m planning on getting back out there.
“There was talk straight after my last fight, I’m like, ‘How many more? You never know.’ There were talks like that,” Volkanovski added. “But as soon as I started training, I was like, ‘Ah, let’s keep going.’ … I can’t promise another three or four years, but I don’t think I’m retiring after this one.”
Advertisement
Volkanovski’s opponent for UFC 325, Lopes, was one of many the champ was linked with fighting, as the 145-pound division is rife with contenders like Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy.
Volkanovski said Monday that he wasn’t shocked at having to fight Lopes once again as there were clues when UFC executives revealed “they wanted to see what happened with the [Jean] Silva and Lopes” fight this past September.
“When I saw that, when they were waiting for that, obviously it could be one of these two,” he said.
If Jean Silva had won, it would have created a fresh opponent for Volkanovski to fight, after enduring recent rivalries with Max Holloway and Islam Makhachev. And so, when Lopes beat Silva in the second round with a spinning back elbow and punches, it was, initially, unclear who would then get the title shot.
Advertisement
“I’ll fight whoever. Whoever it is, I’ll step up,” Volkanovski said. “But when I got told [it was Lopes], I wasn’t too surprised.
“Obviously I would rather have an undefeated fighter like Movsar or Lerone Murphy, but this is still going to be an exciting fight.”
Volkanovski also shared that Evloev, the division’s No. 1-ranked contender, and Murphy, who is ranked No. 4, are expected to throw hands in the near future to determine the next in line at the belt.
“If that’s the case, I’ll just fight the winner of that,” he said.
“I plan on doing what I’m going to do [against Lopes] — he’s a dangerous guy, tough, and can take a good punch. But I want to go out there, take no damage and have a quick turnaround, and then do it against someone like Movsar or Murphy.”
Advertisement
The two-fight plan maps out a strong 2026 for the champ for a year in which he turns 38 in September.
Though it remains unclear how long he’ll fight, Volkanovski did acknowledge he’s nearing the end.
“The next one, taking on an undefeated fighter in the UFC, that’s appealing — maybe that’s one I could finish up on,” he said, alluding to a fight against the prospective Evloev vs. Murphy winner.
“Right now I plan on everything going well [at UFC 325], getting my hand raised, hopefully taking minimal damage so I can have a quick turnaround and keeping fighting. The plan is not to retire.”
The Volkanovski vs. Lopes rematch headlines a UFC 325 card that is the second numbered event to air on Paramount+ — the UFC’s new broadcast partner after it left the ESPN platform in 2025.
