Alexander Volkanovski will defend his 145-pound title against No. 2-ranked featherweight contender Diego Lopes atop the upcoming UFC 325 event, scheduled for Sat., Jan. 31, 2026 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. The booking caught many fans (and fighters) by surprise, considering Volkanovski just beat Lopes at UFC 314 last April in a fight that was competitive, but not close.

Ahead of the promotion’s return “Down Under,” reports have been circulating suggesting Volkanovski (27-4) will retire following his Lopes fight. “The Great” turned 37 just a few weeks back and has a history of violence under the UFC banner, to the point where the “struggling” Volkanovski was encouraged to take an extended leave of absence.

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Too soon.

“I’m seeing that everywhere,” Volkanovski told 10 News Australia. “I don’t know where that comes from. No, it hasn’t been planned to be my last fight, so you don’t really need to worry about that. I think you’re going to just take it as it goes from here on, but there’s definitely no plans of that. My plan is going out there, not taking too much damage, going out there and really setting a statement, be really impressive in there, and maybe get a quick turnaround.”

The retirement talk was started by Volkanovski himself ahead of UFC 314 when he admitted the clock is ticking on his combat sports career. It’s also a decision that is typically influenced by how well a fighter performs inside the cage, so perhaps Volkanovski will have a different outlook on his fighting future with a loss to Lopes, or another top contender currently idling in the 145-pound queue.

“We’ll see what happens [after UFC 325],” Volkanovski continued. “I think you’ve got a couple of other guys as well, like Movsar [Evloev], Lerone Murphy, undefeated and all that. So for the legacy, they look like they might be pretty good as well. So, we’ll see what happens. This one, do this, in Sydney, put on a show. We’ll see what happens, but definitely no plans for that.”

To see who else is fighting at UFC 325 in Sydney click here.