UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is set to take on Brian Ortega this weekend at UFC 266. Ahead of the fight, Volkanovski appeared at the MMA Hour shoe to have a chat with Ariel Helwani. The duo discussed many things, including a potential clash between Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee and Volkanovski himself.

McKee stopped Patricio Pitbull recently to be crowned the 145 lbs champion of the Bellator MMA. While Volkanovski acknowledges the quality of the undefeated fighter, he reminded Helwani that they are levels apart in terms of opponents. While Volkanovski has gone through some of the best featherweights of all time in the history of MMA, McKee is yet to take on anyone notable except Patricio Freire.

“Let’s be realistic when we’re talking about. Look at my rise to the title and look at his rise to his title. You know what I mean? It’s just totally different. You’ve got a bunch of absolute killers and he could be a killer himself, but he hasn’t had the competition that we’ve had. That’s obvious so you know what I mean. But again, is he a great fighter? Yeah, he probably is. Will he beat me? No,” said Volkanovski.

“G.O.A.Ts of th4e division, some of the best featherweights you’ve ever seen, these are the guys I had to fight to get a shot at that title. Let’s look at my resume and let’s look at his resume,” he added.

“There’s levels to this. Again I don’t even know the guy. So, I am not gonna sit there and throw shade at him,” the Aussie said further.

Alexander Volkanovski vs AJ McKee: likely to happen anytime soon?

While there’s no doubt of the quality that McKee possesses as a fighter, it’s hard to deny Volkanovski‘s claims as well. He has beaten the likes of Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Max Holloway, and more to claim the position that he is in today. McKee hasn’t quite fought fighters of that level in that frequency.

Also, the fact that the fighters are in completely different organizations at the moment makes the fight even more unlikely to happen in the near future. If McKee decides to join the UFC anytime soon, then the fight might actually happen. The chances of it happening otherwise are slim to none.

Also Read: “He Is More Unbreakable Guy” – Giga Chikadze Shares His Prediction for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega