Volkanovski pitches Gaethje superfight for lightweight title
The featherweight champ wants a send-off fight for both men, with Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan also eyeing Gaethje.
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has proposed a superfight against lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, with the 155-pound belt on the line, as a send-off for both men. He pitched the idea on Who The Fook Are These Guys?, in an interview released Thursday, Oct. 15. First, the Australian defends his own title against Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24.
What Volkanovski pitched to Gaethje
Volkanovski said the idea came from Gaethje saying he may have just one more fight left. The American has talked about retirement since winning the belt, and the UFC has not named his next challenger.
“Let’s do a super fight, lightweight title on the line and then we can both see everyone off with a crazy super fight,” Volkanovski said. “You do that as like a send off, Gaethje and Volk.”
He added that Gaethje doesn’t see the point of rematches. “I’m like, oh, let’s do a super fight,” he said. “Let’s do it. And then, straight after that, let the divisions sort themselves out, you know what I mean? And UFC will be happy with that.” Both men were born in 1988, and for now it is only an invitation: no fight has been booked.
Charles Oliveira is already in line for Gaethje
Gaethje became undisputed lightweight champion on June 14 at UFC Freedom 250, the card held at the White House, when Ilia Topuria’s corner stopped the fight after the fourth round. Topuria is the same fighter who took the featherweight belt from Volkanovski in 2024.
Volkanovski’s pitch lands in a line that already has names in it. As VF Comunica reported, Charles Oliveira wants answers from Gaethje and sees himself as the next challenger if he beats Diego Lopes for the BMF title at UFC 335 in Las Vegas on Dec. 12. Oliveira already submitted Gaethje with a rear-naked choke in the first round at UFC 274 in 2022.
The other contender is Arman Tsarukyan, coming off a first-round elbow knockout of Brazil’s Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331. On Nov. 14 he has a grappling date first: he faces Neiman Gracie at RAF Abu Dhabi under freestyle wrestling rules.
Volkanovski’s two losses at lightweight
Volkanovski knows the division above him well, and not fondly. In 2023 he challenged Islam Makhachev twice for the lightweight title and lost both times.
In February, at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia, he lost a close unanimous decision. In October he took the rematch on short notice, and Makhachev knocked him out in the first round at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.
Jose Aldo’s record on the line at UFC 333
Before any talk of Gaethje, Volkanovski has to get past Evloev, who is unbeaten at 20-0 in MMA and 10-0 in the UFC. The same card features the third fight between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title.
There is also history at stake. Volkanovski and Brazilian legend Jose Aldo share the record for most title fight wins in UFC featherweight history, with eight each. A win over Evloev would give the Australian nine and the record to himself.
Would you rather see Volkanovski vs. Gaethje for the lightweight title, or should Charles Oliveira get the next shot? Tell us in the comments.
Read more:
- Charles Oliveira wants Gaethje and a lightweight title shot
- Neiman Gracie faces Arman Tsarukyan at RAF Abu Dhabi
- Alex Pereira: Dana White and Cormier deny his claim about Hokit
