One month after his 38th birthday, it wouldn't be disrespectful or out of place to describe two-time UFC featherweight champion and living legend Alexander Volkanovski as old school. Throughout his second reign as champion, which began when Volkanovski (28-4) bounced back from a pair of stoppage defeats to capture the vacant 145-pound title against Diego Lopes in April 2025, the native of Australia has seemingly been the only elite featherweight openly campaigning for a fight against top contender Movsar Evloev (20-0). Even when UFC chose to pass over the 32-year-old Evloev in February, when Volkanovski defeated Lopes even more efficiently in their rematch at UFC 325 (despite the fact that Evloev owns a 2023 win over Lopes), Volkanovski used his post-fight interview to welcome the next contender in line.
That opponent officially became Evloev, a native of Russia, after he traveled to London and outlasted fellow unbeaten Lerone Murphy in his backyard for an exciting majority decision win in March that set up Saturday's UFC 333 main event in Abu Dhabi, where Volkanovski looks for the second defense of his second title reign. red event and UFC Fight Night is included with your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year! "I think that's how it should be," Volkanovski told CBS Sports last week.
"There is a responsibility being champ. That's just how I have always been and how I always will be. We all know the UFC and people are going to play the game.
We know what the UFC wants and even what the crowd wants. People want wars and for you to be more exciting. I feel like it's just different from how it used to be.
People may want to protect their legacy and find better fights for them. "For me it's just, if you are the best, fight who is the best. At the end of the day, we want to be exciting.
But let's see who is the better fighter." To be fair, injuries and canceled fights played just as big a role in Evloev having to wait for his shot as did his perceived lack of marketability and the fact that he has yet to record a finish in 10 trips to the Octagon. But his recent resume has been strong enough -- with wins over Dan Ige, Lopes, Arnold Allen, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and Murphy -- that he enters his first title shot at basically even money to defeat one of the most skilled and decorated champions the sport has ever seen. With a win on Saturday, Volkanovski would surpass Brazilian legend Jose Aldo (whom he defeated in 2019) for the most featherweight title wins in UFC with nine and equal Aldo's record of seven title defenses at 145 pounds.
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