Current and two-time UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski recently told all-time MMA great Demetrious Johnson that he would have retired if he had taken a ton of damage in the Diego Lopes rematch.
“The Great” and Lopes ran it back earlier this year at UFC 325, where the former once more had a calculated approach, stayed outside Lopes’ firing range, and waited for the latter to step in and look for openings.
Each time the challenger advanced, the champ found the perfect angles to clip him with sharp counters, maintaining a disciplined approach. After having consistent output for 25 minutes, the 37-year-old cruised to another unanimous decision victory, to register the first successful title defense in his second reign at 145-pounds.
The UFC 325 title rematch was similar to their first meeting at UFC 314, where the Australian and Lopes competed to capture the then-vacant 145-pound title. Although Lopes did drop Volkanoski in both outings, he failed to fight a fight-ending blow to get his hand raised.
Alexander Volkanovski says that if he had taken a lot of damage in his rematch vs. Diego Lopes, he might’ve considered retirement
Alexander Volkanovski had previously revealed that if something went horrendously wrong in the Diego Lopes rematch, he would hang up his gloves, and earlier today, when speaking about the same topic, he told “Mighty Mouse.”
If I took a heap of damage in this fight [UFC 325], maybe I would have laid down the gloves. “
Check out Alexander Volkanovski’s comments below:
However, things went as planned for “The Great” at UFC 325, and now he will face the winner of the UFC London headliner, which features a clash between top and undefeated featherweight contenders Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy.
During the same sitdown, Volkanovski also told “DJ” that he has signed a new contract with the UFC after his most recent win.
Now I’m in a good position. I did get a new contract as well, which was great.”
