Volkanovski Eyes ‘Dream’ Fight Against McGregor

Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski wants to cement his legacy as one of the greatest mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters in history, but that may require a membership to the “champ champ” club alongside the likes of Conor McGregor and Henry Cejudo, among others.

“I’m planning on staying at featherweight even if I move up, I want to float in both [divisions],” Volkanovski told James Lynch (transcribed by Drake Riggs). “I’m not saying I want to just move to lightweight and stay at lightweight. When people ever ask me if I think of a move to lightweight, it is double champ status, while I still got both belts. The role of lightweight champ and featherweight champ, that’s my vision. Not just fighting in lightweight. Cause I make featherweight reasonably easy so there’s no reason for me to have to move up.”

Volkanovski (23-1) won’t be going anywhere until he defends his 145-pound title against longtime division contender Chan Sung Jung in the UFC 273 pay-per-view (PPV) main event on April 9 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. A victory is likely to send him into battle against former champion Max Holloway for a third (and perhaps final) time.

After that? A direct course for Conor McGregor, who held titles at both featherweight and lightweight — even if it means bumping up to 170 pounds.

“He was a featherweight, he was a champion of my division,” Volkanovski continued. “So I’ve taken out the featherweight champs. That’s the only one left, isn’t it? Me, Aldo, Max, and Conor. So it makes a lot of sense. Obviously, it would be a dream and then I’ve taken out all the other champs in my division so that would be incredible. Obviously, you talk about the payday and all that — the circus around it would be great. But at the same time, talking about legacy, he’s undefeated at featherweight, too. That would mean something. I don’t think he’s making featherweight too soon. If we fight, you do it at any weight. I’d do that at welterweight if I had to, whatever. But at the same time, we’ll see. I’ll just worry about Zombie cause Zombie’s in front of me and we’ll see.”

McGregor is currently healing from a broken leg and has yet to establish a timeline for his Octagon return. If and when “Notorious” does find his way back inside the cage, a potential lightweight title shot awaits, which could in theory allow Volkanovski to move up a division to prove he’s more than just a “little fart” with a rugby ball for a head.