Alexander Volkanovski has picked the fight he wants to end on. Speaking after his win over Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 on Oct. 24, the featherweight champion said he wants to move up and fight Justin Gaethje, and that he would walk away afterward no matter how it went.
“That’s something I’d retire for. If they want to give me that opportunity, win or lose I’d retire,” Volkanovski said, in comments posted by Championship Rounds on X. Yahoo Sports followed on Oct. 27 with a report that Volkanovski is eyeing a final UFC fight before retirement.
He also addressed the obvious objection before anyone could raise it. A champion chasing a fight in another division can freeze two weight classes at once, and Volkanovski seemed aware of how that looks. “I don’t want to hold divisions up, but I believe we could do this and not hold the divisions up,” he said. He did not lay out how that would work in practice, and the UFC has not announced anything.
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The more striking detail from fight night is what he was carrying into the Octagon. Volkanovski revealed afterward that he had been sick when he fought Evloev, and Happy Punch reported on X that he was dealing with a chest infection on fight day. He did not sound bothered. “It’s all good, it’s a part of the game. I started getting sick, I was like ‘it would’ve been too easy if I wasn’t sick,’” he said, per Championship Rounds. “No matter what hurdles are in front of me, this sh*t excites me.”
Championship Rounds, citing Oscar Willis, also reported that Volkanovski refused to take any medication that day because he felt it would give him an unfair “sporting advantage.” Most fighters would have reached for whatever got them through a cut and a walkout with a bad chest. He went the other way, on principle, against a contender in Evloev who was a serious problem on paper.
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It was a good night for the old guard of the card in general. Volkanovski and Petr Yan, who also won at UFC 333, posed for a photo together afterward, two veterans who have each been counted out at various points and keep showing up anyway.
What happens next depends on the UFC and on Gaethje, neither of whom had responded publicly in the sources available. For now, the request is on the table, and Volkanovski has attached an unusually clean condition to it.
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My take: this is the right ask, and he has earned the right to make it. Gaethje is the kind of opponent who guarantees a fight people will remember, and “win or lose I’d retire” removes the usual worry that a champion is shopping for a soft exit or a second belt to stall with. The only real complication is the one he named himself, the featherweight title sitting idle while he moves up. If the UFC can solve that, it should book the fight and let a man who fought Movsar Evloev with a chest infection and no medicine choose how he leaves.
