The UFC featherweight champion, Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski, has taken out every former 145-pound champ still active in the UFC. All, that is, except for one: Conor McGregor. Volkanovski told James Lynch that he’d love to complete the set and defeat the Irishman, adding that he’s perfectly willing to do so “at any weight”.
“Obviously, Conor is always gonna get his name out there. You gotta remember, he was a featherweight, he was a champion of my division. So I’ve taken out the featherweight champs. That’s the only one left, isn’t it?
Volkanovski Wants To Fight McGregor “at any weight”
Me, Aldo, Max, and Conor. So it makes a lot of sense. Obviously, it would be a dream and then I’ve taken out all the other champs in my division so that would be incredible.
Obviously, you talk about the payday and all that. The circus around it would be great. But at the same time, talking about legacy, he’s undefeated at featherweight, too. That would mean something. I don’t think he’s making featherweight too soon.
If we fight, you do it at any weight. I’d do that at welterweight if I had to, whatever. But at the same time, we’ll see. I’ll just worry about Zombie cause Zombie’s in front of me and we’ll see.”
While it might seem like a stretch for many featherweights to even scrape a welterweight fight, Alexander Volkanovski is a remarkable exception. Before fighting professionally, the Australian fighter enjoyed a rugby league career where he comfortably walked around at two hundred pounds.
Getting back up to 170 would be far easier than the dramatic weight loss that allowed Volkanovski to compete, and ultimately dominate, at 145.
This fact is not lost on Volkanovski, who is eyeing the prospect of mimicking McGregor and trying his luck in the lightweight division. “I’m planning on staying at featherweight even if I move up, I want to float in both.
I’m not saying I want to just move to lightweight and stay at lightweight. When people ever ask me if I think of a move to lightweight, it is double champ status, while I still got both belts.
The role of lightweight champ and featherweight champ, that’s my vision. Not just fighting in lightweight. Cause I make featherweight reasonably easy so there’s no reason for me to have to move up.” Is McGregor vs Volkanovski a fight you want to see? Let us know in the comments.
