Is Alexander Volkanovski Going to Retire in Sydney? UFC Veteran Breaks it Down
Dan Hardy believes we could see Alexander Volkanovski’s MMA swan song at UFC 325.
After handily defeating Diego Lopes in April, the two will run it back this Saturday when the promotion returns to The Land Down Under for another packed night of fights.
Volkanovski, 37, will defend his featherweight title for the first time since reclaiming it against Lopes in April. But with ‘The Great’ having few challengers and little left to prove, some suggest that Volk may be ready to lay down his gloves — win or lose — in front of the hometown crowd.
“It would make sense, wouldn’t it?” Hardy said during an interview with Submission Radio. “It would be the smart thing to do. From an outside perspective, it’s difficult for anybody from the outside to suggest what a fighter would want to do. Especially if he has a good performance, he might be like, ‘Man, I’m still…’ And he’s on that huge contract as well. The idea of him fighting Lerone Murphy is just a killer. It’d be a great opportunity for Lerone to get the shot, but I like Volk. It’s like time to let the young crowd take over. I think especially because he’s got so many good opportunities.
“It’s different for fighters. Like [Justin] Gaethje, I would imagine he’s got other opportunities outside of mixed martial arts, but he’s still all in. Whereas Volk has so many other things that he could be doing as well. It might be a bit easier for him to step away than it would for other people perhaps. But I don’t know — the adrenaline rush and walking out in Sydney and the reception he’s going to get and the love all the way through the week — I don’t know, it’s hard to walk away from that no matter how much of an ass kicking you get sometimes.”
Volkanovski is 14-3 under the UFC banner, his only losses during the decade-long run coming against two-division champions Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria. Along the way, he’s earned wins over Brian Ortega, Max Holloway, ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung, Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, and Yair Rodriguez.
Will ‘The Great’ ride off into the sunset following his 18th walk to the Octagon at UFC 324, or will it be just another night at the office for the greatest featherweight in MMA history?
