Alexander Volkanovski has said he will be in “scary” form against Diego Lopes, as the pair prepare to fight for the vacant UFC featherweight title.
Thursday (20 February) brought the shock news that Ilia Topuria was dropping the belt, as he eyes a shot at lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
That move comes after just one title defence by Topuria, who knocked out Volkanovski to win the gold last February and retained it with a KO of Max Holloway in October.
Now, Volkanovski faces No 3-ranked Lopes to crown a new title holder on 12 April, in the main event of UFC 314.
“We haven’t been holding this information for too long, to be honest,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “I just found out it was Lopes not that long ago. So, we always knew that it was gonna be April, for the belt – we just weren’t exactly sure who.
“I still don’t know the exact answer to [Topuria’s next move]. He obviously was talking about moving up. We originally thought it was gonna be Ilia or Lopes, I was just preparing for Ilia, because we did the face-off [in the cage, after Topuria beat Holloway].
“Then I was getting told, ‘We’re not exactly sure,’ so that’s when we were like, ‘Alright, something may be changing.’ But I’ve been preparing for April, Miami, for a while now. I’ve had a pretty long camp already.”
As champion, Volkanovski recorded five successful title defences across four years. The Australian, 36, took the belt from Holloway in late 2019 before beating the Hawaiian twice more, as well as defeating Brian Ortega, Chan Sung Jung and Yair Rodriguez.
Mexico’s Lopes, 30, will enter UFC 314 on a five-fight win streak, which includes victories over Brian Ortega, Dan Ige and Sodiq Yusuff in his last three outings.
“Lopes, obviously a dangerous dude,” Volkanovski said. “A bit of a different match-up to Ilia. Obviously both are dangerous fighters, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Very excited, excited to show everyone.
“I’m feeling great, and I’m only gonna get better from here, so that’s a scary thing – especially for Lopes. I think Lopes is in for a very, very hard fight. He’s a gamer, he’s a great dude, I’ve got a lot of respect for him. A very nice fella.
“I’m sure he’s expecting to go out there and win the belt, but I’m sorry, mate: that ain’t happening. But good on you for being in this position, I’m happy you’re getting the opportunity to fight for the belt. But I’m still here, you ain’t having it. Sorry, mate.”
Volkanovski also addressed doubts from certain fans, related to the Australian’s 1-3 streak in his last four fights.
In early 2023, Volkanovski lost a close decision to Makhachev while challenging the Russian for the lightweight belt. He then returned to featherweight and stopped Rodriguez, before again facing Makhachev – this time on short notice – and losing by KO. Then, 12 months ago, Volkanovski lost the featherweight title to Topuria.
“Obviously people are like: ‘He’s old, he’s done.’ I hope people are thinking that,” Volkanovski said. “Everyone knows I love the underdog story, everyone knows I love to prove people wrong.
“I still think a lot of people believe in me and know I’m gonna go out there and look great anyway. But for those who don’t: you have every right to think that until I change your opinion, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do 12 April.
“Training’s going great. I don’t know if you can see, we’re getting stuck in, I’ve got a couple of black eyes, scratches. I’m putting myself through it, shark tank with some very high-level guys [...] I’m happy to lose rounds in the gym, especially when you’ve got [the best training partners] shark-tanking: they’re resting while I’m doing all the rounds, they’re fresh.”
‘Shark-tank’ rounds typically involve a fighter facing a new opponent every 60 seconds for five minutes. So, their training partners come in fresh while the fighter in question continues to work.
