Alexander Volkanovski and Justin Gaethje riding off into the sunset with one last absolute banger? ‘The Great’ seems to be cooking something up! The reigning UFC featherweight champ has floated the idea of a wild champion-versus-champion showdown with Gaethje, with the lightweight title on the line and both fighters potentially calling it a career afterward. And with ‘The Highlight’ fresh off his stunning win over Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250, the timing couldn’t be more interesting.

Speaking on the WhoTheFookPodcast, Alexander Volkanovski pitched the matchup as a potential retirement send-off for both men, especially with Justin Gaethje reportedly weighing up whether he has just one more fight left in him.

“Imagine that you do that as like a send-off,” Volkanovski said. “Gaethje and Volk like, because he’s talking about… does he want to fight still? He’s like, Maybe one more, then that could be like a super fight.

“Let’s do a super fight, you know? Lightweight title on the line, and then we can both see everyone off with a crazy super fight.”

Rather than watch Justin Gaethje grind through contenders, Volkanovski sees a shortcut: skip the queue, put the lightweight title on the line, and give fans one final spectacle.

“I mean, he’s sitting there, goes, ‘Ah, what’s the point of doing rematches and all that? ‘It’s like, let’s do a super fight. Let’s do it,” he added. “And then straight after that, let the division sort themselves out. You know what I mean? And you’d still be happy with that? Here you go. Let’s make that happen.”

Gaethje’s stunning title win has opened the door to a potential superfight, but there’s still plenty to figure out before anything gets rolling. He defeated Ilia Topuria in the fourth round of the UFC Freedom 250 main event, pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent UFC history. Afterward, ‘The Highlight’ suggested he would take the rest of 2026 off, leaving the timing of his first title defense up in the air.

Arman Tsarukyan is among the leading candidates to challenge for the belt, but the 37-year-old has also floated the possibility of retiring or fighting Conor McGregor. Until he makes up his mind, Volkanovski’s idea remains just that: an intriguing possibility rather than a fight that’s anywhere close to being confirmed.

The Aussie, meanwhile, has been down this road before. Alexander Volkanovski moved up to lightweight in 2023 to challenge Islam Makhachev for the title, losing a closely contested decision before getting knocked out in their rematch later that year. With Justin Gaethje now holding the gold, Volk could have another shot at becoming a two-division champion.

But before he starts dreaming about lightweight gold, there’s a massive job waiting for him at featherweight.

There’s a lot of clarity needed before the dream super-fight

But first, Volkanovski must defend his featherweight title against undefeated Movsar Evloev, whose relentless wrestling and pressure could derail any lightweight ambitions.

The Australian might have plenty of fans backing him to get the job done, but Evloev isn’t exactly the kind of guy you can sleep on. And while ‘The Great’ is entertaining superfight fantasies, Charles Oliveira wants the UFC to get one very important answer out of Justin Gaethje: Is he sticking around or not?

‘Do Bronx’ is set to defend his BMF title against Diego Lopes at UFC 335 on December 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But the former lightweight champ has one eye on the division’s bigger picture, especially after Gaethje started talking about retirement following his June victory over Ilia Topuria.

“The first step is for the UFC to sit down with Gaethje and find out exactly what he plans to do,” Oliveira told Sherdog. “He says he won’t fight this year, but that he would if it were against Conor. Then he starts talking about retirement.”

‘Do Bronx’ also has his own plans for the lightweight throne. If he gets past Lopes, he believes he deserves another crack at the title, particularly since he submitted Gaethje back in 2022.

But he’s not pretending Arman Tsarukyan hasn’t earned a serious look, either. Tsarukyan beat the Brazilian by split decision in 2024 and recently blasted Mauricio Ruffy out in the first round.

“Obviously, Arman deserves it too,” Oliveira said. “But I think the first step is for the UFC to find out whether Gaethje is retiring or continuing to fight.”

If the 37-year-old decides he’s done, things could get very interesting. Charles Oliveira believes he could end up facing Arman Tsarukyan for the vacant lightweight championship, potentially shutting the door on Alexander Volkanovski’s proposed superfight with ‘The Highlight’ before it even gets off the ground.

Still, the Australian wouldn’t exactly be short of exciting options at 155 pounds. Oliveira, for one, is a matchup he’s already had his eye on.

“I want an exciting fighter like a Charles Oliveira,” Volkanovski said on the FREESTYLEBENDER podcast back in 2024. “Charles Oliveira, there’s a lot of exciting fights that I would love to do while I’m waiting as well.”

And then there’s Tsarukyan, who’s even floated the idea of dropping down to featherweight to challenge Volk for his belt. Asked about the possibility at UFC 325 media day, the champion made it clear he wouldn’t shy away from the challenge.

“I love challenges,” Volkanovski said. “He would obviously be a tough challenge if he could get down there; that would definitely be a tough challenge. Same with Movsar [Evloev].”

For now, though, Volk has to handle Movsar Evloev before getting carried away with dreams of double-champ status. And until Justin Gaethje makes up his mind about his future, that proposed retirement superfight remains a tantalizing what-if rather than anything close to a done deal.