Alexander Volkanovski was all set with his next opponent in mind after beating Diego Lopes to win the featherweight title for a second time. ‘The Great‘ wanted to fight the undefeated Movsar Evloev, claiming that it’d be nice to add another young name, and an undefeated one at that, to his list of defeated fighters. However, those plans may not go through because Evloev is now out of the title picture.
The undefeated Russian fighter recently revealed that he’ll be making his return in July in a non-title fight. He’s not quite there yet, as UFC veteran Matt Brown claims that he needs to inject some level of ‘entertainment’ in his fights before getting a title shot. “He should know that. He’s in an entertainment industry,” Matt Brown told ‘MMA Fighting’. So what’s next for the title picture then? Well, rumor has it that Alexander Volkanovski is going to run it back against a former rival.
Dana White and Co. will be hosting their first Mexican Independence Day PPV in Mexico for the first time with UFC 320. Certain reports claim that there are discussions about a rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez, which, for former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, is a bad idea because getting people invested in this fight would be difficult.
“No one wants to see this fight. No one,” Robert Whittaker stated on the ‘MMArcade Podcast’. “No one was sitting at home thinking, ‘Hey, do you know what fight I want to run back? ‘Volk’ and Yair’.” The Australian 185er was having quite the laugh while rejecting this fight because Alexander Volkanovski’s win over Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 was quite a decisive one. As such, ‘The Reaper‘ claims that there is a lot of work to be done on ‘El Pantera‘s part.
“Not yet, anyway, because ‘Volk’ did some good, honest work in that first fight, okay? And I thought Yair had a lot to work on from that fight,” Whittaker added. “I think a lot of it was mental, but that’s how I walked away from that fight. I thought that the fight was very one-sided, and I thought he had things to work on.”
MMA: UFC 290 – Volkanovski vs Rodriguez Jul 8, 2023 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Alexander Volkanovski red gloves fights Yair Rodriguez blue gloves during UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena. Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena Nevada USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xStephenxR.xSylvaniex 20230708_szo_cs1_0332
Meanwhile, there could be some issues with Dana White and Co. setting up the aforementioned rematch, anyway. How? Well, there are other reports claiming that Alexander Volkanovski may not compete at UFC 320 with some personal commitments in September. Let’s take a look at that front.
Alexander Volkanovski will have another daughter in the fall
Alexander Volkanovski has a big family, which includes his wife, along with three daughters. But in the coming months, he’s going to join Conor McGregor as the featherweight champion will welcome his fourth child into the world, a fourth daughter. As per combat journalist Alvaro Colmenero, Volkanovski is expecting his daughter’s birth in September, around UFC 320.
“With Evloev agreeing to another fight, I know for a fact that the featherweight title fight to be Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez. For UFC 320 in Mexico, it would be a perfect headliner, but ‘Volk’ will have another daughter in September and they wanted to avoid that date,” Colmenero tweeted. He also recalled when Joe Lopez, ‘Volk’s coach, claimed that the champ had missed one of his daughter’s day of birth in the past, so he’s not going to miss it this time.
“Remember what Joe Lopez said, laughing, a month ago. He already missed the birth of a daughter, and he didn’t want it to happen again. But of course, the other attractive options would already be in November, or rather, December. I think we would go more to the last month of year,” he added. Well, Dana White is known to force his fighters to take a fight, like he did to Belal Muhammad during Ramadan. So, it will be interesting to see how he approaches Alexander Volkanovski’s situation with rumors of UFC 320 plans.
Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post “No One Wants to See This” – Robert Whittaker Outright Rejects Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez Fight Idea for UFC 320 appeared first on EssentiallySports.
