Alexander Volkanovski’s UFC 325 Win Strengthens His Case as the Greatest Featherweight Ever

Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder.
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run. You better take cover.

When you hear those iconic lyrics blare through wherever the UFC is, that means Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski is making his entrance. And for the first time with him as UFC champion, Volkanovski got to make his way to the Octagon with a native crowd singing along with the music.

UFC 325 touched down at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, and was headlined by Volkanovski defending the UFC featherweight title against Diego Lopes. It was a rematch of their initial fight from UFC 314 in April, which saw Volkanovski regain the then-vacant title 14 months after dropping it to Ilia Topuria.

There were plenty of questions surrounding the fight. How would Lopes adjust his game after their first fight? Would the Australian crowd impact the fight at all? And most importantly, how would Volkanovski look as a 37-year-old defending champion?

That last question loomed large during fight week and throughout the broadcast. Volkanovski is at an age where, historically, skills diminish and championship runs tend to end. When Volkanovski and Lopes first faced off, Volkanovski delivered what many called a “vintage” performance after suffering back-to-back brutal KO/TKO losses to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.

This fight, however, felt both as competitive and not as close as their first meeting. Using the round-by-round 10-point must system, Lopes fought Volkanovski tooth-and-nail in several rounds that could have gone either way. Yet, overall, it felt like Volkanovski was a step ahead for most of the contest.

Lopes attempted to seize control early by applying forward pressure and leaning heavily on his kick-based offense. Volkanovski responded by efficiently picking his spots with his striking. That approach paid dividends in the second round, where Volkanovski landed several clean shots despite Lopes threatening with grappling and submission attempts late in the frame.

The third round proved to be the most violent of the fight. Volkanovski stunned Lopes with a pair of heavy shots late in the round, and Lopes absorbed them well. Moments later, Lopes fired back with a clean strike that dropped the champion. Volkanovski quickly recovered, but it was still the most significant single blow of the fight to that point. Some could argue the knockdown alone might have been enough to swing the round under alternative scoring philosophies, such as the Global or “PRIDE” ruleset.

From there, Volkanovski shut the door. He completely outpaced and outworked Lopes in the fourth round and survived a flurry of desperate, Hail Mary-style finish attempts in the fifth. While the scorecards sparked some debate regarding their margins, the result itself felt like a clear decision win for Volkanovski.

With the victory, Volkanovski tied a UFC record. He now shares the mark for most wins in UFC featherweight title fights with Jose Aldo, as both fighters sit at eight. It’s another defining achievement in what has already been a remarkable Octagon career.

Volkanovski was already firmly in the conversation as one of the best featherweights in UFC history. Now, with a second featherweight title reign, a win over Jose Aldo, and a clean sweep of Max Holloway, his place among the UFC’s all-time greats feels undeniable.

Even as he enters the latter stage of his professional MMA career, and with questions remaining about how much time he has left, Volkanovski’s recent losses should not diminish his legacy. If anything, his rebound performances against Lopes may strengthen it.

After all, those losses came at the hands of Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria — currently the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC.

At this point, as beloved as Max Holloway is and as legendary as Jose Aldo remains, there may be no stronger case than ever before that Alexander Volkanovski is the greatest featherweight the UFC has ever seen.