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Super Smash Finals LIVE from 2pmWhat retirement? Volkanovski plans to fight three times in 2026
Connor Scanlon • January 31st, 2026 4:28 pm
Retirement rumours have swirled around the UFC’s featherweight champion Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski for months now, ahead of his UFC 325 title fight rematch on Sunday against Diego Lopes in Sydney, Australia.
The Aussie champ is now 37-years-old, and was brutally knocked out by both Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria, before most recently being knocked down by Brazilian gun Lopes in Round 2 of their first fight.
Due to this, many pundits have questioned Volkanovski’s future in the sport, fearing for his health.
However, the two-time featherweight king has reaffirmed multiple times now, in the leadup to UFC 325, that he will more than likely not be retiring after his title defence on Sunday.
“No, it hasn’t been planned to be my last fight,” Volkanovski stated on 10 News.
“There’s definitely no plans (of retiring).”
In fact, the Aussie champion admitted that the only reason why he would retire is if he would be beaten badly by Lopes.
“If I were to get beaten up, am I gonna come back to fight? No,” the featherweight champion told Ariel Helwani.
“But that’s not my plan. Unless things go horrendously wrong, I’m planning on going back out there.
“The plan definitely isn’t to retire.”
Furthermore, the 37-year-old is so confident that he will once again defeat Lopes, that he is already putting plans in place to fight a whopping three times this year.
“I didn’t get to do a quick turnaround last year, let’s see if we can do it this year,” Volkanovski told Kayo Sports.
“I definitely want to do (more fights) than last year, that’s for sure.
“So, I want to definitely fit in at least two (fights this year) – I think two is very doable, especially (starting) in February.
“Can I be that active and do three? You know what actually, I’m 37-years-old, I’m going to have to be active. So, let’s do three.
“(A second fight) mid-year sounds good, then that gives me plenty of time later in the year (for a third fight).”
Regarding who the featherweight champ would face next, "The Great" has thrown three names around for his ideal next opponents.
The fan favourite has called for either of the undefeated featherweight's Lerone Murphy or Movsar Evloev, or the No.2 ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan, who is heavily debating a move down divisions to featherweight.
“I love challenges, he (Tsarukyan) would obviously be a tough challenge,” Volkanovski said at UFC 325’s media day.
“Same with Movsar – even the wrestling side of things, I would love that.
“For the legacy, you’ve got undefeated guys like Movsar and Lerone. Or even Arman, if he was to come down, that’s a challenge, that’ll be definitely something (I’m interested in).”
Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski will face Diego Lopes in their firework-guaranteed main event title fight on Sunday.
