UFC news: After UFC 276 Alexander Volkanovski intends to be a double-champ

Alexander Volkanovski aspires to be a two-division UFC champion, and he’s on his way. Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) defends his featherweight championship against Max Holloway in a highly anticipated rubber battle on July 2 at UFC 276. Volkanovski is aiming for a 3-0 victory over Holloway. Volkanovski wants to step up to 155 pounds and challenge for a second UFC title if he wins his fourth title defence.

Volkanovski said Tuesday at a UFC news conference, “Yeah, that’s why I’ve talked about this third fight with Max being a big one. After this one, I go do my thing. It’s gonna give me time to go at least have a chance to go for that double-champ status. That’s what I want. I’m gonna do what I plan on doing and that’s what I’m gonna call for.”

The UFC lightweight championship is now vacant, although since Khabib Nurmagomedov retired, ex-champ Charles Oliveira (33-8 MMA, 21-8 UFC) has dominated the class. When Oliveira missed weight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 in May, he was stripped of his championship. He choked down “The Highlight” in Round 1 despite the pre-fight controversy.

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Alexander Volkanovski will take his chance against Charles Oliveira

Oliveira will now compete for the lightweight championship in his next appearance. If Volkanovski is given the opportunity to face him, he believes he has a good chance. Oliveira has had to come back from behind in a number of victories, according to him. Volkanovski said, “When I look at Oliveira, (he’s a) dangerous fighter. Dangerous fighter, a lot of people love watching him fight, exciting fights. But obviously, he showed that he can be beat. He showed that in his last few. Even if they were exciting, he was almost beat in every one of those times. The thing is with me, I ain’t gonna give him them opportunities. If I land big on someone, they ain’t gonna get the opportunity to land big on me.”