Alexander Volkanovski walked out of UFC 333 with his belt, a Performance of the Night award and an exit plan. After the show, Championship Rounds posted his comments on X under the line “Alexander Volkanovski says he wants to move up to fight Justin Gaethje for his retirement fight,” quoting the champ directly:
“I don’t want to hold divisions up, but I believe we could do this and not hold the divisions up. That’s something I’d retire for. If they want to give me that opportunity, win or lose I’d retire.”
That is a 38-year-old featherweight champion telling the UFC exactly which door he wants to walk out through. I love it. Call your shot, name your guy, put a bow on it.
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He earned the right to ask. Volkanovski (29-4) finished Movsar Evloev in the second round in Abu Dhabi to keep the title, which already made him the oldest man to defend the featherweight belt at 38. He’s the No. 1 featherweight in the Knockout Daily rankings and holds the record for most featherweight title wins in UFC history. Somebody on X posted a joke clip captioned “Dad who is Alexander Volkanovski? Was he any good?” and, buddy, he’s still answering that question every few months.
The bonus haul for the night:
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- Performance of the Night: Alexander Volkanovski, Lone’er Kavanagh
- Fight of the Night: Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili
Kavanagh’s bonus is a nice bounce-back story. The Londoner (11-2), ranked No. 8 at flyweight, stopped Ramazan Temirov by TKO in the first round. That came after a third-round rear-naked choke loss to Brandon Royval at UFC 329 on July 11, a fight that still got him a Fight of the Night check. This is his second Performance of the Night, the first coming in February when he stepped in on short notice and beat Brandon Moreno by unanimous decision in a main event. The 27-year-old keeps getting paid whether he wins or loses, which is the clearest sign the matchmakers like having him on cards.
Yan and Dvalishvili split the Fight of the Night award for their five-round trilogy fight, and Yan got his hand raised before posing for a photo with Volkanovski backstage. Two winners, one picture, plenty of mileage left for both.
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As for the Gaethje idea, nothing is booked and the UFC hasn’t responded publicly. Volkanovski’s pitch hinges on the promotion believing he can take a farewell fight at a heavier weight without freezing the featherweight title picture. If Dana White wants a send-off for one of the best featherweights ever, the champ just handed him the poster.
