Alex Volkanovski has hosed down retirement rumours ahead of his first hometown fight in almost a decade with Australia’s greatest ever UFC fighter aiming for another lengthy run defending the featherweight title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I plan on taking minimal damage out there, have a quick turnaround and we’ll see what happens after that,” Volkanovski said.<\/p>\n
“There’s been a lot of people say that this would be my last fight, and I put that to bed. I’ve still got a bit left in me.”<\/p>\n
As Volkanovski prepares for his first-ever title defence on home soil, a sense that the mists of time are swirling around Australia’s greatest ever MMA fighter is unmistakable. The present has become a look into his past as we consider his future.<\/p>\n
It started with the reaction to the main event itself. Most of the fighters Volkanovski faced in his seven featherweight title bouts are gone, having either retired or left the division, making the Australian one of the last men standing from his era.<\/p>\n
He is from another age, but even then, there is no shortage of fresh blood, all of whom \u2014 the hard-hitting Lopes included \u2014 totally revere him.<\/p>\n
But a rematch between the two, less than a year after Volkanovski’s decisive victory in Miami, has not been well received by fans \u2014 not when 19-0 Russian Movsar Evloev and crackerjack Englishman Lerone Murphy, who is also undefeated as a pro, were waiting in the wings, each promising a fresh and compelling match-up.<\/p>\n
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Alex Volkanovski regained his featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Diego Lopes last April. (Getty Images via Zuffa LLC: Jeff Bottari)<\/p>\n
The first fight against Lopes was Volkanovski’s great revival after back-to-back knockout defeats and as stirring a triumph as he’s had since he first won UFC gold back in 2019, but it also served as a reminder of his career’s fragility and the shadows that loom.<\/p>\n
At this point, Volkanovski fights are a limited resource. To use such a precious thing on a rematch few were demanding has not proven popular.<\/p>\n
The fans know the end of the day is drawing near, as does Volkanovski himself. Should he beat Lopes, he wants to tee up his next fight as soon as possible because he knows the time is short, and with Evloev and Murphy fighting one another in March, his next step appears clear.<\/p>\n
“That’s why I want to be active, because how much longer can I be? I want to take minimal damage, then mid-year sounds pretty good to me,” Volkanovski said.<\/p>\n
“You have Movsar [Evloev] and Murphy fighting, and that makes the most sense with their records and resumes. Legacy-wise [for me], that would be perfect.”<\/p>\n
Just as he is constantly reminded of his own fighting mortality, the card is dotted with reminders of Volkanovski’s past and the vast spaces between then and now.<\/p>\n
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At 37, Alex Volkanovski wants to make the most of the final days of his career. (Getty Images: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n
For example, Volkanovski’s last fight in Sydney came back in 2017, when a young heavyweight named Tai Tuivasa made his UFC debut on the same card as a baby-faced wrecking machine.<\/p>\n
Nine years later, they’ll share the light again, and Tuivasa, who became one of Australian MMA’s top stars as he belted his way to a title eliminator once upon a time, is battling for his fighting life against Brazil’s Tallison Teixeira on the back of five straight losses.<\/p>\n
His sheer presence \u2014 even after his losing streak, Tuivasa is still ranked at heavyweight and is the second-biggest Australian star on the card outside of Volkanovski himself \u2014 adds to the feeling that the end of an era of Australian MMA is on the horizon at UFC 325.<\/p>\n
![\"Tai](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9c8430aac0746a6d0dcb3df4b504d1e8.jpeg\")
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Tai Tuivasa will attempt to save his UFC career on Sunday. (Getty Images via Zuffa LLC: Jeff Bottari)<\/p>\n
The game is changing, there can be no doubt about that, and Volkanovski is only part of a generation’s long goodbye.<\/p>\n
Tyson Pedro, who came up alongside Tuivasa, left the UFC almost two years ago. If Tuivasa goes down again, retirement may well be thrust upon him. Robert Whittaker, the nation’s first champion, is at a crossroads after back-to-back losses and has been talking about seeing the end of himself as a fighter.<\/a><\/p>\n Australian MMA will not fall off a cliff as these names depart the sport. There is still an abundance of talent, both established and rising.<\/p>\n Recent welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, the standard bearer for the next age, is not yet 30, and the country could have another star on its hands in lightweight Quillan Salkilld, who will be after a fourth-straight UFC win when he faces fellow Aussie Jamie Mullarkey on Sunday.<\/p>\n But we are not in that great beyond just yet. The sun is getting low, but it has not set on Volkanovski, and while talk around his future is warranted, somewhere in between the forest has been overlooked for the age of the trees.<\/p>\n Volkanovski is not just Australia’s greatest ever MMA fighter \u2014 you can make the case, and plenty will, that he’s the best featherweight the sport has ever seen anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n Alex Volkanovski is Australia’s most accomplished MMA fighter. (Getty Images: Steve Marcus)<\/p>\n But his finest hours \u2014 the win against Jose Aldo, the trilogy of victories against Max Holloway, the resurrection he experienced against Brian Ortega and the subsequent retribution he inflicted \u2014 all happened far from these shores.<\/p>\n His only fight in Australia since he became champion was his epic 2023 bout with Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in Perth<\/a>. Volkanovski produced one of the best performances of his career, but came up on the short end of the decision.<\/p>\n For all the past glories Volkanovski carries with him, he has never had an arena filled with his own people roar with triumph as UFC gold was wrapped around his waist.<\/p>\n He has never felt their love as he left the Octagon as the best in the world with a heart filled with triumph and a defeated enemy at his back.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5cff75d4f479755fb8fd526899a8383f.jpeg\")
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