Former UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski wants to lock horns with lightweight royalty Dustin Poirier.
Volkanovski lost his featherweight title to Ilia Topuria in February, but he won’t be getting an immediate rematch since the UFC is prioritizing a title fight between Topuria and Max Holloway. The Aussie has now set his sights on securing super fights against top UFC lightweights, mentioning potential opponents like Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, and now Poirier.
‘The Great’ shared on the FREESTYLEBENDER podcast that, although he is highly motivated to regain his featherweight belt, he also wants to stay active by fighting in the lightweight division. Initially, he informed the UFC that he didn’t want to fight until later in the year, but he now regrets that decision and is eager to return to the Octagon sooner, ideally in late 2024.
“I want an exciting fighter like a Charles Oliveira,” Volkanovski said. “I did call out Poirier after that. He’s a great dude. We get along. I think he’s a good man and he’s obviously a big, fun fight. There’s still history there with mutual opponents. He used to fight at featherweight, things like that, and obviously a big name – fun fight, that would be. So that’s exciting.
“Charles Oliveira, there’s a lot of exciting fights that I would love to do while I’m waiting as well. So yeah – just whatever excites me. The belt excites me. Ilia, obviously, rematch excites me. So that’s the main thing in the featherweight. I wouldn’t just fight anyone in featherweight because my next fight’s for the title, and that’s that.”
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