Ten months ago, Alexander Volkanovski turned back the clock against Diego Lopes at UFC 314.
The odds were against Volkanovski for a number of reasons. Primarily, the focus was on his age (36), and that long-running statistic about lighter men almost never winning title fights once they turn 35. Worse still, Volkanovski was entering his vacant title fight on the heels of two brutal knockout losses, which rarely bodes well for an older fighter.
Volkanovski bucked expectations and overcame adversity to defeat Lopes in their first bout. He put on a footwork masterclass, but he didn’t run away from exchanges. He traded with the ferocious power puncher on lots of occasions, cracking him with heavy right hands on numerous occasions. Lopes landed a couple of big shots that hurt Volkanovski across the five rounds, and his moments of success demonstrated that he was a dangerous and worthy challenger for the belt.
As such, Volkanovski’s victory was a standout moment and stellar addition to his already outstanding legacy.
Last night’s rematch, on the other hand, was … fine? When Lopes showed up with no real solutions to the problems Volkanovski presented him in the first fight, the entire bout became a simple question of whether or not Volkanovski had fallen off the athletic cliff since April. Volkanovski quickly demonstrated that he’s still just as “Great,” yet there were four more rounds to compete. He spent 20 additional fairly repetitive minutes further proving himself the better technician, making the same statement he did less than a year ago.
UFC 325’s main event honestly felt like a waste of time.
The person I’m offended for is the champion. Volkanovski is now 37 years of age, and UFC put him in something of a no-win position by making him run laps on Diego Lopes. The second win does very little for his resume and feels unimportant overall. Volkanovski is already contending with the fact that he’s only champion because Ilia Topuria opted out of cutting weight, so awful matchmaking like this only weakens his reign further.
How many Volkanovski performances of this caliber do we have left? Likely not many. I would have loved to see the Volk of last night — still close to the top of his game if perhaps a bit slower and less durable than three years ago — face off with Movsar Evloev. Imagine if instead of dancing around Lopes again, Volkanovski handed undefeated 19-0 Russian phenom Evloev the first loss of his pro career.
That’s the kind of win that further builds his resume and pushes him higher up in the GOAT discussions.
Instead, Evloev is rumored to fight Lerone Murphy — another much more worthy contender! — in March, and the victor will presumably receive their long overdue title shot. The winner of that title eliminator likely won’t be ready until the end of summer or start of fall, meaning Volkanovski has to hopefully maintain his current form for another eight months.
It’s a shame to waste the time of an all-time great. This could have been another defining moment of his incredible career or a changing of the guard. Instead, UFC matchmaking spun its wheels, and for the second time in two weeks, we’re left with a title fight that didn’t really feel like the two best fighters in their weight class.
