Could Alexander Volkanovski retire if he fails to defend title at UFC 298? Exploring the possibility
Alexander Volkanovski is set to defend his featherweight title for the sixth time this Saturday at UFC 298 against Ilia Topuria. While a win this weekend would further solidify his status as one of the greatest ever to do it at 145 pounds, would he retire from the sport if he loses? Let us analyze.
While 'The Great' has been highly successful at the UFC as a featherweight, he has come up short in both his attempts to become a two-division champion. As such, the Australian is 3-2 in his last five.
Furthermore, in his last attempt at claiming the lightweight title at his most recent outing at UFC 294, the 35-year-old suffered his first KO loss in the promotion.
Watch Islam Makhachev knockout Alexander Volkanovski below:
The defeats to Makhachev mean Volkanovski won't see another crack at 155-pound gold as long as the Dagestani holds the belt, a sentiment 'The Great' has voiced himself.
The only other seemingly sure-shot way for him to get another crack at the lightweight belt is to maintain his status as a featherweight champion and simultaneously get a win over a notable 155-pound contender.
However, he is still unbeaten at featherweight and might decide to dominate the division rather than move up. For any of these scenarios to happen, he must win against Topuria this weekend.
While he might get an immediate rematch against the Georgian-Spaniard, even with a loss, it will undo public perception of his near invincibility at 145 pounds and essentially put a pause on his lightweight ambitions.
Catch Alexander Volkanovski's lightweight ambitions below (0:45):
However, regardless of all these adverse possibilities a loss at UFC 298 will present, it is doubtful that the Australian champion will retire if he comes short this weekend. Instead, it is more likely that he'll call for a rematch at the earliest possible date.
Alexander Volkanovski on what he does to feel invincible at featherweight
Punching above one's weight seems to be Alexander Volkanovski's mantra to be invincible at featherweight.
During a recent interview with Megan Olivi, 'The Great' revealed that training with fighters much heavier than him is how he has built himself into one of the best 145-pounders of all time. He said:
"I've always been competing against people a lot bigger than me. I've got guys who are some of the best in the world in multiple divisions heavier than me and these are the guys that I'm getting used to, and then a featherweight come along... I don't need to say the rest... I'm always looking for the harder rounds [in training] against the people that are going to put me in worse positions because the more and more I do that, the more invincible I feel, especially at featherweight."
Catch Alexander Volkanovski's comments below (9:00):