Alexander Volkanovski may have surrendered his crown to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298, but he roared back with a vengeance, reclaiming his throne in a war against Diego Lopes at UFC 314, shattering the dreaded comeback curse. Now, with the gold strapped around his waist once more, the burning question remains: What’s next? Let us not forget that the fighter is 36 and won’t be around for too long in the octagon.

In fact, he had thought about retiring after back-to-back KO losses to Islam Makhachev and then Topuria. It was a tough phase. But earlier this year, he gave fans some idea about his timeline ahead. “I’m expecting to maybe have a couple more, a few more,” he told Ariel Helwani in February. “I still love it, but how much longer do I want to do this to myself and my body? I do want to eventually sail off into the sunset, right?”

So speculations about his future aren’t too far away, naturally. While speaking with ‘Platinum’ on the Overdogs Podcast last week, Alexander Volkanovski was advised by the former UFC fighter to hang up the gloves for good and retire on a high note, just like Khabib Nurmagomedov did. “You had some big ups and some hard downs in this sport, and then you won the title again. I’ve been wanting to say—just leave, because you are on top, man. You did it. You went away, you came back, you did it again, and you could just—everyone wants a cookbook,” said Mike Perry.

He further added, “I don’t know if you have an e-cookbook or what, but everyone wants your cooking. You could just grill out in Australia and enjoy, ride off into the sunset. Brother, you did it.” At the age of 36, there are hardly any fighters who would want to continue in the sport, considering the massive drawbacks it presents. Despite having an illustrious career, Jose Aldo had to face multiple setbacks in the form of brain injuries. This is why he finds it difficult to recall certain key moments from his career.

Mike Perry argues that since Alexander Volkanovski is currently at the pinnacle of the division, it’s the perfect opportunity for him to retire from the sport and leave behind an unmatched legacy. In his reply, ‘The Great’ emphasized: “Yeah man, look, I’m hearing you and it’s you know, I’d be lying to myself if I said I’m going to fight for another ten years, you know what I mean? Like, it’s obviously—we know that it’s not too far away. But I mean, for me, it’s like—I’m set.” 

He further added, “Like, it’s not like I need to… You know, I’m in a great position, and I’m blessed to be in this position. But at the same time, as I said earlier, you know what I mean? Like, there ain’t… There ain’t— I still know I got some fight left in me.” With a 27-4 career record, Volkanovski has nearly fought with everyone in the top five in the division, except Movsar Evloev.

After claiming the 145-lb gold, the fighter expressed interest in facing the undefeated Dagestani featherweight Movsar Evloev. However, the UFC seemed to have other plans, as it’s almost certain that the promotion will be booking Volkanovski against Yair Rodriguez. “Yair’s name has popped up. No dates are set right now. So again, I think there are a lot of moving parts throughout the division. There’s a lot happening right now,” said Volkanovski earlier this month. However, are the fans willing to witness a rematch once again? Robert Whittaker has the answer to this.

Robert Whittaker hardly feels excited for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez

In their initial battle, Yair Rodriguez was defeated by Alexander Volkanovski via third-round KO at UFC 290 in 2023. ‘The Great’ dominated Rodriguez in every round and finished the fight within three. But is the MMA community eager to witness a rematch? Well, Robert Whittaker believes there’s no euphoria for the clash. During a recent episode of the MMArcade Podcast, Robert Whittaker gave his honest opinion on the upcoming Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez clash set to take place on Noche UFC in September.

“Mate, no one wants to see this fight. No one. No one was sitting at home thinking, ‘Hey, do you know what fight I want to run back? Volk and Yair. Not yet anyway because Volk did some good, honest work in that first fight, okay, and I thought Yair had a lot to work on from that fight,” said Whittaker in May.

He further added, “I think a lot of it was mental, but that’s how I walked away from that fight. I thought that fight was very one-sided, and I thought he had things to work on.” In all honesty, Movsar Evloev presents a better challenge for the Aussie, especially given his wrestling-heavy style. It would be genuinely exciting to see how Volkanovski handles Dagestani wrestling once again. Despite the palpable excitement for that match-up, however, the promotion appears to have a different plan for the featherweight champion. What do you think?