UFC featherweight Josh Emmett is grateful to be given a shot at the interim title, but believes there’s only one real belt in the division, and it belongs to Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski. Emmett discussed his upcoming interim title bout against Yair Rodriguez, set to take place at UFC 284 on the same night as Volkanovski makes the jump up to lightweight.
“I’ve kind of known about it for a while. I think they were just waiting for the Abu Dhabi fight with Islam [Makhachev] and [Charles] Oliveira to see how things played out but once Dana [White] said Volkanovski is going up to fight whoever, they were talking possibly about an interim title or a No. 1 contender’s fight. I’ve known but I didn’t know when. They were saying just get ready for December. So as it was getting closer, I was like I’m not going to take a four-week notice fight. If it was for an interim, of course, I would.
Josh Emmett Disses Interim Title: “There’s Only One Title”
But then they just hit me up on Saturday and said OK it’s finally going to happen. You and Yair. The co-main event on UFC 284. Of course, do you even have to call me and ask? I’ve never said no. Do you think I’m going to turn this one down?”
Emmett continued, claiming that although Volkanovski is attempting to capture a UFC title in a second division, his featherweight strap is the only valid one.
“In my opinion, there’s only one title and that’s the champion [Alexander] Volkanovski. He has the title but I feel like this solidifies when I get a big win, then I am next to fight for the title.” That’s exactly what Emmett wants to do, citing a Volkanovski fight as his ultimate goal for the moment.
“That’s the goal and that’s still the goal. This is just one step closer. We’ve seen interim titles announced three months after the champion just won. So I was thinking the same thing, if Volkanovski were to come back, the soonest would be International Fight Week in July, that would still be a year. Like you just mentioned, he would probably be out a little longer but I know he wants to stay active.
He keeps saying things and he continues to deliver. I do believe him. I do believe he’s going to try to fight for the [155-pound] belt, if he does win, I feel like he wants to bounce up and down and keep the division moving. So I do believe him.”
Do you think Josh Emmett will get to face Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski? Let us know in the comments.
