Alexander Volkanovski not keen on Max Holloway trilogy right now
The now defending UFC featherweight king, Alexander Volkanovski has no ill will towards the man he just beat back-to-back but when asked about trilogies, especially an immediate one, he's not too pleased.
He's a true fighter's fighter. Anyone, anywhere, and anytime. Alexander Volkanovski though feels that would accomplish absolutely nothing. The 31-year-old Australian beat Max Holloway in just about every aspect in their first fight, taking the strap from the one most felt was the best in the division ever.
The 2nd time around, whether you thought Max just edged him or not; Alexander Volkanovski got the win. Yes, it was razor close, but a win is a win. Almost immediately talk of doing it a 3rd time popped up.
Finally, 'The Great' addressed the issue. Summarizing it up he said:
"The division needs to play out, and we got a whole division, there's so many of us. We've got 15 people 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".
And you can't blame Alexander Volkanovski for that feeling either. In the history of the sport, there's been less than a handful of times where trilogies played out back-to-back-to-back. Zabit Magomedsharipov, Brian Ortega, and "The Korean Zombie" are all chomping at the bit to get their shot at glory. And Calvin Kattar is rocketing up the rankings, as well.
Dana White for his part said it's hard to not give Max a 3rd shot being how close the 2nd fight was. A solid argument that "The Great" could use is; hey, Holloway didn't give Jose Aldo a 3rd shot at the belt. Now granted Max finished him twice, but both were with just under a minute left in the fights and Aldo is an icon of the sport.
And let's not forget arguably the best Havyweight Champion, Stipe Miocic, caught a lot of heat for wanting the trilogy with Daniel Cormier without fighting anyone else.
What could be in store for Alexander Volkanovski next?
When Henry Cejudo's name came up, Alexander Volkanovski used the same argument. Yes, he's an all-time great, but there are fighters here and now at 145 that deserve the shot. Max has lost 3 of his last 4, granted the Dustin Poirier fight was at 155. Doing a quick rebuild is not the worst thing possible for "Blessed".
If Holloway truly believes in the power of running things back, he has wins over Brian Ortega and Jeremy Stephens. You can bet both of them would love another shot.