If Alexander Volkanovski can’t rematch Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, he’s willing to fight for the “BMF” belt in the meantime.
Volkanovski (25-2 MMA, 12-1 UFC) took lightweight champion Makhachev to the brink when he challenged him at UFC 284, but he ultimately fell short. He will drop back down to featherweight for his next fight and attempt to unify his belt with interim champ Yair Rodriguez on July 8 at UFC 290.
Just three weeks after Volkanovski defends his 145-pound title, Dustin Poirier (29-7 MMA, 21-6 UFC) and Justin Gaethje (24-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) will battle for the vacant “BMF” title on July 29 in the UFC 291 headliner – and Volkanovski is interested in facing the winner.
“At the end of the day, fight anyone, anywhere, anytime,” Volkanovski said on Israel Adesanya’s YouTube channel. “Who’s the ruler of the badasses? It’s the guys that will fight injured and consistently, guys like Israel Adesanya, like myself. …
“That’s something that I’d love to do. I’d do it anywhere, any place, any time. Maybe a ‘BMF’ belt fight while – if Islam is there doing his thing and then we do our immediate rematch after, then I can have three belts. I’d love that. Featherweight, ‘BMF’ belt, and that lightweight belt.”
Poirier defeated Gaethje in a Fight of the Year barnburner in 2018, stopping “The Highlight” in Round 4. When they run things back at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Volkanovski expects Poirier to get his hand raised again.
“If I had to lean toward someone, I feel like I’d start leaning toward Poirier,” Volkanovski said. “He obviously won the last time they fought, and I think I’d probably lean toward Dustin. But I mean, you can’t tell me that Justin Gaethje can’t catch him.
“And then you’ve seen even in Justin’s last fight, his fitness held on obviously fighting (Rafael) Fiziev, (who) slowed down a bit and Justin started pouring it on. So he might even be there the whole time, but I just think that you know that Dustin can go the five rounds, and he probably gets more and more technical as the fight goes on.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s even hub for UFC 291.
