Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski no longer sees Aljamain Sterling as a potential challenger.
Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) was planning on moving up a division after attempting to defend his bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley, but those plans were spoiled when he was TKO’d in Round 2 in this past Saturday’s UFC 292 headliner at TD Garden in Boston.
Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) called Sterling class for saying that if O’Malley was able to take him out, he can only imagine what Volkanovski would do. Sterling also appeared to have a change in plans, and would like to rematch O’Malley.
“(I’ve) got to feel for Aljo, man,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “I mean, what does he want to do? He’s definitely going to want that rematch because it’s a big fight.”
Volkanovski doesn’t see a fight with Sterling happening anymore. Waiting in the wings is top contender Ilia Topuria, who Volkanovski says could have been leapfrogged by Sterling had he beat O’Malley.
“That’s not happening,” Volkanovski said of fighting Sterling. “You never know. If he had a big win, he could have took Ilia’s spot.”
Volkanovski, who’s coming off a title defense against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 in July, had options. He was eyeing a rematch with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev before he was booked in a rematch vs. Charles Oliveira, and was willing to entertain Sterling’s callout if he beat O’Malley.
But with the way things played out, Volkanovski is zeroing in on Topuria before the end of the year – even though the unbeaten rising star has been uncharacteristically quiet as of late.
“What’s next for me? Aljo, if he was to win in wild fashion and called his shot, he could have stepped in front of Ilia,” Volkanovski said. “Ilia’s been pretty quiet. I thought he would be chirping, wanting to make sure he gets that fight. But I want to fight as soon as possible. Obviously my elbow (isn’t 100 percent), but I’m able to do a fair bit. I’m not punching with it yet, but I will be. I’m staying fit, doing strength, doing everything I need to.
“I want to be back in there before the end of the year. Islam’s fighting. I want that rematch, but he’s fighting in October, so I want to fight before then. I don’t want to fight early next year. If I was going to wait that long, it might as well be Islam, but I don’t want to wait that long. So Ilia, keep running your mouth because I like it. (It) revs me up – makes me want to punch you in the face even more.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
