He has done it! The ‘Volk of old’ is back. Alexander Volkanovski is champ again, baby! With his gruelling, hard-fought UFC 314 victory over the young and destructive Diego Lopes, the Aussie great joins fellow featherweight icon Jose Aldo as the only man to recapture the 145-pound crown in the history of the UFC.
And as you can imagine with a guy as nice and sporting as ‘Volk’, the MMA world in jubilant. Including his former opponents like Islam Makhachev. “Congrats Legend,” Makhachev wrote on his Instagram Story along with a picture of the two-time UFC featherweight champ with his belt after the Lopes victory.
Makhachev, of course, became the first man to not only beat Volkanovski at their fairly close UFC 284 clash, but also went on to knock the nigh-unstoppable Aussie out at their UFC 294 rematch. And ‘The Great’s victory over Lopes just goes to show how impressive Makhachev’s two victories (and indeed Topuria’s knockout win) over him were.
February 12, 2023, Perth, Perth, Australia, Australia: PERTH, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 12: R-L Islam Makhachev battles Alex Volkanovski in their Lightweight title fight during the UFC 284 event at Rac Arena on February 12, 2023 in Perth, Australia. Perth Australia – ZUMAp175 20230212_zsa_p175_146 Copyright: xMattxDaviesx
What was really impressive about this performance is that the all-timer looked his old, unstoppable self. ‘Volk’ even survived a knockdown in the second round and came back strongly to the fight, which just shows that his chin may be a bit more brittle than it was before being knocked out by Makhachev and Topuria within a four months in 2023-24. But his chin is still pretty strong as he survived being knocked out by a hard right that made him go blind.
Alexander Volkanovski reveals he went blind and still wants Evloev in three months
Alexander Volkanovski may have won the fight against Lopes, but it came at a cost. “Like I completely lost vision in my left eye. Yeah, it was a good shot I just could not see and I was trying to get back and it was completely gone!” the champ told ‘Fox Sports’ in an interview after the fight. Thankfully, he eventually got his vision back, but ‘Volk’ admitted he was a bit worried there he might have lost his vision permanently.
Taking the type of damage Volkanovski took against Lopes would make most fighters kick back, relax, a bask in the glory of winning the title at 36, and heal up for a while. But as you well know, ‘Volk’ is not most fighters. No. The Aussie great is an absolute maniac, and has called for a title clash against the undefeated Russian grappling maestro, Movsar Evloev in three months!
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Volkanovski said on being asked if he still wanted Evloev in three months like he had claimed before the fight. “I have to look at a few things. I’m pretty sure there’s no broken bones, hopefully. If not, let’s get back in it. Heal up a little bit.”
Hopefully Volkanovski waits more than three months to fight Evloev if indeed Evloev is next for him. Yair Rodriguez was also on the card, and beat Patricio Pitbull pretty handily to make a case for another title shot. But since Rodriguez lost to ‘Volk’ just two years ago, it is likely Evloev would get the nod. What do you think about Islam Makhachev congratulating Alexander Volkanovski after his UFC 314 victory?
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