Alexander Volkanovski defeated Max Holloway in three title fights during his first stint as UFC champion.
But Holloway insisted there’s no longer any animosity between the pair as he watched Volkanovski become a two-time featherweight king at UFC 314.
Volkanovski bounced back from consecutive knockout losses on Saturday night to secure a unanimous decision win over Diego Lopes in the main event of UFC 314.
He also overcame adversity during his fight with Lopes, as the Brazilian had him floored at the very last second of round two.
However, the 36-year-old Australian fought back with heart and grit to outclass Lopes on the feet and earn the win.
In doing so, Volkanovski set a remarkable record and also teed up another.
He became the first man over the age of 35 to win a UFC title fight in the lighter UFC weight classes, and is now just one title win from matching Jose Aldo‘s record of eight – the most in the division.
Nonetheless, ‘The Great’, once again, cemented his status as the best at 145 pounds in the UFC, and Holloway didn’t have any issues with the final outcome.
“That was a real good fight,” Holloway said as Volkanovski and Lopes embraced after their five-round brawl.
“I just thought, that’s what Alex would do: be smart, land his points, and not get suckered in.
“Alex [won]. I think Alex won four rounds, one, two, three, and then the fifth.”
Holloway then revealed he scored the contest 49-46 in Volkanovski’s favour, before iconic UFC announcer Bruce Buffer revealed that two judges agreed with him, while the third had the new champion just one round up at 48-47.
‘Blessed’ proceeded to clap his ex-rival, saying: “They told him he wasn’t gonna get it back.
“His [Lopes’] eye was busted, I didn’t even notice that during the fight.
“[Volkanovski is an] animal. Animal. He’s about to catch up [with Aldo], one more.”
He later added: “What a night of fights. Truly amazing. [It’s] good to see Volk going out there and creating some history, making some records, always happy to see.
“It’s always good to see a former rival do their thing, we ain’t even rivals man, it’s all love.”
Volkanovski won UFC gold for the first time by defeating Max Holloway at UFC 245 in December 2019.
He then defended it in a rematch with the Hawaii native seven months later, before beating Holloway again after two further title defences against Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung, also known as ‘The Korean Zombie’.
Volkanovski then tried his luck at lightweight, but suffered a close decision defeat to Islam Makhachev, before defending his featherweight belt against Yair Rodriguez.
He then rematched Makhachev, losing in brutal style to a first-round head kick, before dropping back down to 145lbs and losing his title to Ilia Topuria.
Holloway then challenged Topuria for the belt he previously held for three years between 2016 and 2019, but suffered the first KO defeat of his career at UFC 308 last October.
The 33-year-old is officially, for now, still one of the top ranked featherweights, but revealed after his loss to Topuria that he would likely make a move back up to lightweight.
After his third defeat to Volkanovski, Holloway won consecutive bouts before moving up 10 pounds for the first time in his career and securing one of the greatest UFC knockouts of all time over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
Unofficial UFC featherweight rankings
According to Tapology
- Alexander Volkanovski (c)
- Movsar Evloev
- Diego Lopes
- Arnold Allen
- Yair Rodriguez
- Lerone Murphy
- Aljamain Sterling
- Brian Ortega
- Jean Silva
- Josh Emmett
Top featherweight contender like Movsar Evloev, Rodriguez, Arnold Allen and Lerone Murphy could all be in contention to challenge for the belt next.
During his reaction to UFC 314, Holloway was asked who he thinks is next in line for a title shot after Volkanovski’s triumph.
“I don’t know. Yair [Rodriguez]? But Yair is a rematch. Movsar but I don’t know if they give Movsar a title shot,” he said.
