Alexander Volkanovski isn’t going anywhere.
The UFC posted a short to its YouTube channel on Friday, the day before UFC 333, titled “Volkanovski is not retiring! #ufc333”. Short and blunt, which is how retirement denials should be.
The timing makes sense. Volkanovski was born on Sept. 29, 1988, so he turned 38 a few weeks ago. He already owns the record as the oldest man to win the UFC featherweight title (36) and the oldest to defend it (37). When a fighter keeps rewriting the age column, people start asking how much longer he’ll do it. The UFC answered for him.
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He heads into Saturday’s main event at 28-4, the reigning featherweight champion and No. 1 in our rankings at 145. As of June he sat No. 2 in the UFC’s pound-for-pound list. He is tied with José Aldo for the most featherweight title wins in UFC history, so a win over Movsar Evloev would give him that record outright. His last fight was Jan. 31, 2026.
Both men made weight Friday. Volkanovski came in at 144.5 pounds, Evloev at 145.
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Fight week has been loose for the champ. He showed up to Thursday’s press conference dressed as Joe, his character from the Street Fighter movie. When part of the crowd started chanting Evloev’s name during one of Volkanovski’s answers, Evloev told them to stop and show the champ some respect, per Championship Rounds. Classy move from a guy trying to take the belt.
Volkanovski also has a Dagestan trip on the calendar. He plans to film an episode of Cooking With Volk with Islam Makhachev and laid out the pitch: “We want to do a whole hunting on horseback, catch stuff, cook over a fire....you can just imagine how good that content will be.” A man planning horseback hunting content in the Caucasus is a man who isn’t planning a farewell tour.
Then there’s the bigger door. Dana White told Nina Drama it would be hard to deny Volkanovski another shot at the lightweight title if he beats Evloev, according to MMA Orbit. That’s the UFC boss putting 155 on the table before the cage door even closes.
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First he has to get through Evloev. UFC 333 goes down Saturday, Oct. 24.
