Alex Volkanovski Not Interested In Fighting Max Holloway Or Henry Cejudo
Alex Volkanovski was able to reclaim his featherweight title at UFC 251, beating Max Holloway in their rematch. After the two fought for the second time in a row, it seems more doubt has been cast over who is the better man of the two. Even if the 31 year-old Aussie now holds both wins.
Volkanovski managed to beat Holloway in their first affair via unanimous decision at UFC 245 to win the featherweight title. However, many believed the fight could have also gone in the Hawaiian’s favour. In their rematch the former rugby player wanted to make a statement and get a finish, in order to leave no doubt who the true champion was. Instead, the second ended even closer than the original. This time an even more controversial split decision.
Many fans, media, and fighters alike have since voiced their opinion on the matter, believing Holloway should have had his hand raised, and is deserving of another shot. Even UFC president Dana White stated that “it would be hard not to give” Holloway another opportunity.
Alex Volkanovski vs Max Holloway 3?
Speaking with Submission Radio (as transcribed by MMA Fighting), Volkanovski explained his reasoning for not wanting to fight Holloway again next.
“It’s pretty clear that like, you win back-to-back, two wins in a row. To make a third one, it just doesn’t really make sense, especially right now,” Volkanovski said. “Again, we know that last fight was close, but the judges gave me the decision, and that’s that. And in the first fight, even though it was competitive, I pretty clearly won that fight. So, to just give him another rematch straight away and put the division on hold, it just doesn’t make any sense. . .
“It was a close fight, and I understand why people want to see the fight again, but at the same time, I won twice back to back. So, it just doesn’t really make sense right now. It’s something that it can definitely be a big fight in the future as well. But for right now, I’ve got a division that I want to hold and I don’t want to keep on hold. So, I want number one contenders, I want some fresh blood in there. So, we’ll see who that is.”
Moving On
Dana White was able to anticipate how Volkanovski would react to the idea. But considering just how close both fights were, the UFC president appears inclined to make the trilogy next. However, he may have to convince the champion.
“Look, man, I gave Max a rematch for them,” Volkanovski stated. “The UFC didn’t give me anything else but the rematch. My team weren’t too happy about that, but again, I ended up saying, you know what, there’s no one else, I still think this is the biggest fight for me on that card as well – cause there was no clear number ones, so I think that was the biggest fight, and that’s why I wanted to do it. So, we ended up making it worth it on a big card like it was and we made it happen. . .
“I probably would maybe consider it if there was no other fight and this was the fight that everyone wanted, but it seems like everyone wants us to move on anyway. The division needs to play out, and we got a whole division, there’s so many of us. We’ve got 15 people that are ranked for a reason, and what, we’re just gonna keep fighting until Max wins? You know what I mean? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Alex Volkanovski vs Henry Cejudo?
Moving forward, Volkanovski wants the featherweight division to play itself out while still naming some possible contenders, such as ‘The Korean Zombie’ (Chan Sung Jung) and Zabit Magomedsharipov. Another option could also be former two division champion, Henry Cejudo. ‘Triple C’ has been lobbying for a match against the the featherweight champion for a chance to do what no other fighter has done before, win a belt in three different weight classes. But the 22-1 fighter doesn’t seem too thrilled about that idea either.
“Again, he’s done great thing things in flyweight and bantamweight, but I mean, featherweight is whole different beast,” Volkanovski stated. “That’s why it just doesn’t make sense for me, cause everyone’s just going to sort of expect me to go out there and mop the floor. And that’s pretty much exactly what’s going to happen. No disrespect to Henry Cejudo, but it’s a whole different breed in this division.”
Who would you most like to see Alex Volkanovski fight next?
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