Alexander Volkanovski will give back the featherweight title if it gets him Arman Tsarukyan at 155 pounds. He says that fight now excites him more than the Justin Gaethje matchup he spent fight week talking about.
Volkanovski laid it out on The Ariel Helwani Show, days after he knocked out Movsar Evloev in the UFC 333 main event last Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
“I’ll vacate the featherweight belt and fight Arman (Tsarukyan) for the title. There it is,” Volkanovski said. “I’m starting to get more excited for that than the Gaethje fight.”
The setup matters. Gaethje holds the lightweight title, and he’s undecided about retirement. In the days before UFC 333, Volkanovski had floated a move up to challenge him, and Dana White backed the idea of the 38-year-old taking another run at 155. If Gaethje retires and the belt opens up, Volkanovski isn’t scrapping the plan. He sounds even more fired up, because Tsarukyan would be the obvious man left standing.
He didn’t hedge on what he’d do if the belt were already his, either. “If I was champion at lightweight, I’m fighting Arman. 100 percent,” he said, adding that if Gaethje doesn’t want that fight, he’ll take it himself.
That’s a bold thing to say about one of the best grapplers at 155, and Volkanovski knows it. He called Tsarukyan one of the top wrestlers and grapplers in the UFC, then said he’s not worried about ending up underneath him.
“Everyone knows I can handle wrestlers,” Volkanovski said. “I think he’s one of the best wrestlers and grapplers in the UFC, but you ain’t holding me down.”
He expects the fight to end up standing, where he gives Tsarukyan credit too. “I’m getting back up, and we’re standing and fighting,” he said, calling it a fun fight on paper.
The 145 résumé he’d be leaving behind
The Evloev knockout adds another defense to a featherweight run that was already absurd. Bloody Elbow noted it strengthens Volkanovski’s case over Jose Aldo as the greatest featherweight ever. Walking away from that division in the middle of the argument is a choice. It’s also the kind of choice a guy makes when he has nothing left to prove at 145 and plenty he wants to prove at 155.
Tsarukyan’s side
Tsarukyan had talked about cutting down to featherweight to take Volkanovski’s belt. He has since taken that off the table. He has also said he’d welcome Volkanovski back to lightweight for a title fight if Gaethje hangs up the gloves. So both men are already talking about the same fight, which is more than you can say for most title pictures.
The hinge is Gaethje, and a decision on his future is expected soon.
Volkanovski deserves credit for answering the question straight. He didn’t punt it to the UFC brass or tease something with a cryptic post. He named the belt he’d give up, the man he wants and why he thinks he wins. If Gaethje retires, the UFC has a vacant lightweight title and two guys publicly asking to fight for it. Book Volkanovski vs. Tsarukyan for the real belt and nobody has to invent an interim one.
