"You don’t need to worry about that" - Alexander Volkanovski shuts down retirement talks ahead of Diego Lopes rematch 

UFC 325 Volkanovski v Lopes 2: Media Opportunity - Source: Getty
Alexander Volkanovski is the current UFC featherweight champion [Image courtesy: Getty]

Alexander Volkanovski doesn’t plan on hanging up the gloves yet. The Australian is back in action against Diego Lopes at UFC 325 which takes place in Sydney, Australia.

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This is a rematch from UFC 314 where Volkanovski claimed the vacant featherweight title. The Australian was speaking to 10 News and was asked about his retirement plans.

Volkanovski might be 37, but he believes there is still a lot of fight left in him:

“I don’t know where that’s come from. No, it hasn’t been planned to be my last fight. You don’t need to worry about that, you need to take it as it goes from here on, but there is definitely no plans.”
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'The Great' shared his game plan for facing Lopes and wants to come back and fight soon after he retains his belt:

“My plans… not taking too much damage, going out there, really setting a statement, be really impressive in there and maybe get a quick turnaround and then see what happens from that.”

The champion also named a couple of rivals he would like to face and grow his legacy:

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"You've got a couple of other guys like Movsar [Evloev] and Lerone Murphy, they're undefeated and all that. For the legacy, they look like they might be pretty good as well."

Check out Alexander Volkanovski’s thoughts on his retirement below (via Red Corner MMA on X):

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Alexander Volkanovski not in a winning situation?

Alexander Volkanovski got a unanimous decision win over Diego Lopes in their first encounter. There have been some suggestions that others were more deserving of a title shot than the Brazilian, with Lerone Murphy being in contention.

UFC analyst Din Thomas spoke to MMA Junkie and claimed that this fight against Lopes doesn’t benefit Volkanovski:

"I think Volk is in a no-win situation here. In a way, he's in a no-win situation because if he wins, it's like, 'Hey, you just beat this guy last year, and there's two other guys that deserved it more than he does.’"
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Thomas added that Murphy deserves a title shot but understood why Lopes got the fight due to the entertainment factor:

"Lerone Murphy, to me, deserves a shot at the title. He's done everything the UFC's asked of him, but he doesn't scream entertainment, and Diego Lopes does... I think it's important to Paramount to get off to a really strong start and get more people, and it's honestly better for the sport itself to have this fight as opposed to the meritocracy of Lerone Murphy, because he deserves it."

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Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
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