‘Absolute superstar’ – Why Alexander Volkanovski’s dream UFC fight is Conor McGregor
Alexander Volkanovski has faced the world’s greatest fighters in his career, but Conor McGregor would put the icing on the cake.
Volkanovski has conquered the featherweight scene during his illustrious ten-year UFC stint, having come close to claiming two-division status in 2023.
‘The Great’ gets his chance to once again prove his worth as the world’s best fighter at 145lbs when he faces Diego Lopes in a rematch at UFC 325 this weekend.
Having played down retirement talk ahead of UFC 325, the 37-year-old will have a plethora of options to explore should he defeat Lopes in Sydney, especially as UFC White House nears.
McGregor plans to end his five-year lay-off from the sport at the White House card, and Volkanovski would seemingly love nothing more than to fight the former great of his division.
After his first win over Lopes, Volkanovski was later asked about one fighter he would love to share the Octagon with in the modern era, and he had just one name in mind.
Alexander Volkanovski would relish meeting with ‘superstar’ Conor McGregor
“Probably Conor,” Volkanovski told The Unscripted Show.
“A lot of people are gonna sit there and be like, ‘Oh yeah, Conor is a boring answer,’ but he was in the featherweight division.
“That era when he was just an absolute superstar — the position you could put yourself in just fighting that guy.
“When you talk about building your platform, when we talk about money and all of that.
“Not only UFC, as you get up, you can make better money, but the platform you’re on, you need to take advantage of it.
“[Fighting McGregor is] one fast track to building some hype around you and getting people to notice you.”
McGregor won the featherweight title by famously knocking out Jose Aldo in December 2015.
Like Volkanovski, who lost twice to Islam Makhachev, the Irishman later pursued a lightweight title bout, defeating Eddie Alvarez 11 months later to become the first fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously.
Volkanovski doesn’t believe the Irishman gets the credit he deserves for his iconic UFC spell.
“He was a good fighter, he was a great fighter,” Volkanovski continued.
“He was another fighter with his accuracy; he was actually a bit ahead of his time — he was really good.
“I don’t think people give him enough credit — he had great timing, great set-ups, a good understanding of what works and what works for him, and yeah, he was sharp.”
Speaking on McGregor potentially coming back, Volkanovski added: “A lot of that is gone now.
“He’s probably gonna be reasonably sharp, but he’s never gonna be that same Conor McGregor, but he was good – you had to fight the right fight against him.”
McGregor’s opponent has not yet been confirmed for the White House card, but it’s likely the Irishman will return at welterweight.
Volkanovski, meanwhile, could defend his title against a top-ranked featherweight like Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev next, or ‘The Great’ could move up and have one last go at winning the lightweight belt.
Volkanovski vs Lopes 2 takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in the early hours of February 1.
Despite headlining the Australia show, Volkanovski is not feeling the pressure to perform in front of his home crowd.
“A lot of people have asked if there’s pressure fighting at home,” Volkanovski said at the UFC 325 press conference on Thursday.
“No, this is an opportunity to give my family, friends and real supporters a chance to have a big moment that they will remember forever.”
Lopes said he would run it back in a trilogy should he come out victorious at UFC 325.
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