Alexander Volkanovsk wanted Ilia Topuria rematch, but got 'the next best thing'
03/24/2025 09:16 AM
Former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovksi found out when everyone else did that Ilia Topuria was vacating the 145-pound title. He knew he was going to face Diego Lopes but didn't know the vacant belt would be on the line.
Volkanovski (26-4) held the featherweight world title from December 2019 until February 2024. In that time, he had five successful title defenses and fought for the lightweight championship twice.
"I actually found out when Dana [White] announced it that he was vacating. I knew it was going to be Diego, like two weeks before," Volkanovski said on the Believe You Me Podcast.
"At that stage I was like, 'Come on. What's going on? I'll fight anyone, interim, whatever. It doesn't matter. Just let me fight. I can do Ilia later if he doesn't want to fight now, or whatever it is.' So, that's where we were at. Then, I ended up seeing his [White's] live and he was like, 'He's vacating. He's moving up.'
"I was like, 'wow.' I didn't expect - even though I had heard him talk about it - I knew that he eventually wanted to move up. I just didn't think he would just vacate," continued Volkanovski.
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Volkanovski lost the title to Topuria and wanted a rematch with "El Matador," but believes fighting for the vacant belt against Lopes is the next best thing.
"He (Topuria) must have something locked up. Does he have that Islam [Makhachev] fight locked in? I don't know. It only makes sense for him to actually vacate, or he really does believe that he's done enough at featherweight and he just wants to chase that lightweight," said Volkanovski. "Good on him, man. I'm not going to stand in his way. Obviously, I wanted that fight, but I got the next best thing for the an actual belt."
