The UFC announced on October 16 that it will be returning to Sydney, Australia on February 8 for UFC 312 at the Qudos Bank Arena. Following the announcement, one of the biggest names from this region spoke to the press about bringing the Octagon back down under.
Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has been biding his time and taking some well deserved rest in recent months ahead of the upcoming title fight at UFC 308.
After losing his belt to Ilia Topuria in February, "The Great" is waiting to get a rematch once "El Matador" faces Max Holloway later this month in his first title defense. Speaking to the media in an interview published by Submission Radio, Volkanovski said that he could be interested in other fights if this doesn't materialize in time for Sydney.
He said that an interim title fight against the #3-ranked contender Diego Lopes would interest him if it means fighting in front of his home fans once again.
Anything with gold with it, I’ll be happy. That’ll just lock me in for whoever it is that wins that anyway. So even if it’s interim, that’s still a big one. I’d say it’d be an exciting one with Lopes, if that was going to happen. If not, it’s Max or Ilia.
Via a post on social media, Lopes also signed off on the idea of stepping inside the Octagon in Sydney next time out. The Brazilian called for a fight with Volkanovski following his latest win over Brian Ortega at UFC 306 in September.
It seems unlikely that the UFC will put an interim title on the line in this division but with Volkanovski only wanting to compete for gold, this clash taking place in Australia could justify it. Lopes' response was perfectly to the point.
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