Alexander Volkanovski

Khamzat Chimaev, Aljamain Sterling and Alexander Volkanovski walked away as big winners at UFC 273 in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Volkanovski finished the night on a strong note. He was absolutely dominant in his third title defense. "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung lived up to his name by absorbing a ton of punishment, but the cumulative effect was too much even for him. 

The Australian's speed and power were simply too much for the challenger. Whether he was leading the dance or countering Jung's offense, he held the advantage in nearly every exchange. 

Ultimately, referee Herb Dean had to save Zombie from himself. He called the fight after Volkanovski landed four devastating punches in a row. 

It was another bullet point on Volkanovski's resume as the best featherweight of all time. 

Elsewhere on the card, Chimaev proved himself as an elite welterweight and Sterling solidified his status as a UFC champion. Here's a look at what all went down in Jacksonville.  

Main Card

• Alexander Volkanovski def. Chan Sung Jung via fourth-round TKO (0:45)
• Aljamain Sterling def. Petr Yan via split decision (48-47 x2, 47-48)
• Khamzat Chimaev def. Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
• Mackenzie Dern def. Tecia Torres via split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
• Mark Madsen def. Vinc Pichel via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Prelims

• Ian Garry def. Darian Weeks via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
• Anthony Hernandez def. Josh Fremd via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)
• Raquel Pennington def. Aspen Ladd via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
• Mike Malott def. Mickey Gall via first-round KO (3:41)
• Aleksei Oleinik def. Jared Vanderaa via submission (neck crank) (Round 1, 3:39)
• Piera Rodriguez def. Kay Hansen via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
• Julio Arce def. Daniel Santos via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Aljamain Sterling def. Petr Yan

Aljamain Sterling took home the bantamweight strap and plenty of validation by winning his long-awaited rematch with Petr Yan. 

While Sterling had to face the criticism of winning a championship belt by disqualification after the first fight, he was able to defend his championship with a more traditional decision victory. 

Sterling's ability to takedown Yan and get into advantageous positions was his biggest edge in the fight. His second- and third-round performances were his strongest in the fight. The vast majority of the round consisted of Sterling attempting rear-naked chokes and Yan fighting them off. 

This bout certainly opened the door for a trilogy, but it's likely the division will get to move on from the matchup as Sterling utilized his post-fight interview to call out T.J. Dillashaw. 

Khamzat Chimaev def. Gilbert Burns

Khamzat Chimaev remained undefeated at UFC 273, but it certainly wasn't as easy as his previous appearances in the UFC. 

After Chimaev steamrolled the competition in his first four UFC fights, he found a stiff test against Gilbert Burns. The former title challenger hung tough after a typically quick start for Chimaev. The 27-year-old scored an early takedown, but instead of the usual fight-ending ground-and-pound, he struggled to keep the Brazilian down. 

In the second round, we saw Chimaev in trouble for the first time. The two went back and forth, but Burns landed a massive right hand that stung his opponent. Durinho handed the rising star his first losing round. 

Chimaev answered any questions about his cardio or heart in the third round. He resorted to a stiff right jab to establish the lead in the crucial round and ultimately earned the decision. 

After watching Chimaev run over his first four opponents, this fight provided a much clearer picture of what he can do in the Octagon. He's among the division's elite, but he still has work to do. 

Mackenzie Dern def. Tecia Torres

The strawweight fight between Mackenzie Dern and Tecia Torres had a little bit of everything in a three-round affair that saw Dern sneak out a split-decision win over Torres. 

Torres and Dern engaged in a tightly contested first round. Torres had more volume, but Dern's strikes appeared to do more damage as the two engaged in a boxing match for most of the first five minutes. 

That round ended up being important for Torres as Dern clearly won the second round. That's because the jiu-jitsu ace was aggressive in going for the submission, attempting one of the more wild Kimura attempts imaginable. 

She pulled guard and ended up nearly sinking in the submission from a standing position. 

That didn't end up happening as Torres eventually broke the hold, but Dern simply transitioned to submission attempts off of her initial try until the round was nearly over. 

The win was impressive for Dern in that she was able to use her grappling effectively while doing enough in the striking department to pick up the win. 

Mark O. Madsen def. Vinc Pichel

Mark O. Madsen might not have made many fans with his fighting style but he secured another win and extended his undefeated record to 12-0 against Vinc Pichel to open the main card. 

The first round was a competitive affair with more striking than was expected. 

However, the second round was the most difficult for the eventual winner. Pichel outlanded him on the feet and appeared to have turned the tide. 

Unfortunately for Pichel, Madsen turned to his Olympic level wrestling in the third and final round to secure the victory. He spent most of the round just maintaining control rather than engaging in a firefight with a dangerous opponent. 

That isn't likely to generate a ton of buzz for Madsen, but he continues to win and get better as he makes his transition from Greco-Roman wrestling to fighting in the UFC. 

Alexander Volkanovski continued his reign of dominance over the featherweight division with a fourth-round TKO win over "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung in the main event of UFC 273 on Saturday from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Volkanovski put on an absolute striking clinic in a completely dominant performance.

The Great got off to a hot start in the first round. His speed advantage was clear from the outset as he stuck Zombie at the end of his jab on multiple occasions and was gone before his opponent could counter.

The champion continued to batter the challenger into Round 2. He continued to make his opponent look like he was fighting underwater while Volkanovski's strikes only grew in confidence. He floored Jung with a counter left among other highlight-reel punches.

The champion even threw in a takedown for good measure.

The end nearly came in the third round. Volkanovski tattooed Jung with a clean right cross that sent Zombie to the mat. He was saved by the bell as the Australian was raining down strikes.

That salvation was short-lived. Volkanovski saw the blood in the water and finished the job in the fourth round. He landed back-to-back left-right combinations and Herb Dean mercifully called an end to the fight.

The Great has certainly lived up to his moniker as the featherweight champion. In a division that has featured multiple pound-for-pound greats in Conor McGregor, Max Holloway and Jose Aldo, he is making a strong case to be included among those names.

After all, he does have two wins over Holloway and another over Aldo. Unlike McGregor, he has stuck around in the division and earned not one but three title defenses now.

The former rugby player has big plans to keep busy this year as well as an eye on doing something that all three of those greats have also done: compete in a second weight class.

"I'm planning on staying at featherweight even if I move up, I want to float in both," he said, per James Lynch of MMA News (h/t Drake Riggs of MMA Fighting). "I'm not saying I want to just move to lightweight and stay at lightweight. When people ever ask me if I think of a move to lightweight, it is double champ status, while I still got both belts. The role of lightweight champ and featherweight champ, that's my vision."

Volkanovski at lightweight is an interesting proposition. At 5'6" with a 71-inch reach, he could be giving up quite a bit of size to the top echelon of the division.

But if there's one thing he's proved during his UFC career, it's that it's a bad idea to pick against him.

Max Holloway has reportedly been removed from his scheduled UFC 272 fight against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski due to injury.

According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Holloway aggravated an existing injury Thursday, just days after accepting the March 5 fight.

Holloway and Volkanovski met twice previously with Volkanovski winning by unanimous decision at UFC 245 and by split decision at UFC 251.

The 30-year-old Holloway is a former UFC featherweight champion, having won it from Jose Aldo in a unification bout at UFC 212.

After three successful title defenses, Holloway dropped the championship to Volkanovski in their first bout at UFC 245 in December 2019.

Holloway owns an overall professional record of 23-6 with 10 wins by way of knockout, and he has won two fights in a row since his back-to-back losses to Volkanovski.

Most recently, Holloway beat Yair Rodriguez by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night in November.

Volkanovski, 33, is 23-1 with 11 knockouts in his career, and he is in the midst of a 20-fight winning streak.

The Aussie has never lost a fight in the UFC, posting a perfect 10-0 record dating back to his debut in November 2016.

Since his wins over Holloway, Volkanovski owns a unanimous-decision victory over Brian Ortega at UFC 266 in September.

The UFC has yet to make an official announcement regarding the Holloway vs. Volkanovski fight and whether a replacement for Holloway will be named.

The other major fight scheduled for the UFC 272 card in Las Vegas is a bantamweight title unification bout between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan.

A pair of title fights will reportedly headline UFC 272 on March 5.

UFC president Dana White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto that featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski will defend his title in a trilogy fight against former champ Max Holloway. Okamoto added that bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will face interim champ Petr Yan in the co-main event.

Both title matchups feature unique backstories. Volkanovski is 2-0 against Holloway, with both wins coming by decision. The second victory was particularly scrutinized after Volkanovski was knocked down twice, but by most accounts both fights were very close and could've been scored for either one of them.

When Holloway dropped the title to Volkanovski at UFC 245 in Dec. 2019, it was his first loss at featherweight since 2013 and it snapped a 14-fight win streak in the weight class. Since losing the second fight to the champ, Holloway (23-6) has won his past two matchups against Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez with both bouts earning "Fight of the Night" honors.

Volkanovski (23-1) has fought just once since he last faced Holloway, defeating Brian Ortega by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 266 this past September in a "Fight of the Year" contender. Volkanovski survived two deep submission attempts by Ortega to earn the victory.

As for Sterling and Yan, the two of them developed a heated rivalry after they fought for the 135-pound title at UFC 259 in March and it ended in highly controversial fashion. Sterling (20-3) was awarded the belt after Yan was disqualified for landing an illegal knee on a grounded fighter. Yan had been dominating the fight prior to his disqualification.

A rematch was originally scheduled for UFC 267 in October, but Sterling withdrew because of a lingering neck injury. Yan (16-2) fought Cory Sandhagen for the interim bantamweight title and won by unanimous decision.

Welcome back to TGIFighting, where we talk to top fighters, preview the weekend's combat sports action and make crotchety observations about the combat sports news of the day. Ready? Let's proceed.

From now through next January, the UFC has scheduled no fewer than seven title fights.

It's natural to take stock before dropping into such wild rapids, and thus it seems like the right time to ask: Which title picture among the UFC's 12 weight classes is currently the most competitive?

Let's sort through them, shall we?

There are a few we can rule out off the top. Three of the UFC's four women's weight classes are ruled by two iron-fisted fighters: Valentina Shevchenko (22-3) at flyweight and Amanda Nunes (21-4) at bantamweight and featherweight. These are dominant champions and charismatic competitors, but that doesn't translate to a lot of intrigue in their respective divisions (quite the opposite, actually).

The same problem exists at men's welterweight, as current champ and consensus pound-for-pound kingpin Kamaru Usman (19-1) is now cycling back through the same list of challengers he's already dominated.

The fourth women's division, strawweight, is looking a little top-heavy at the moment. In November at UFC 268, champ Rose Namajunas (11-4) will rematch Zhang Weili (21-2), who held the belt until Namajunas took it in April. Immediately below them on the division's official UFC rankings is Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-4), who has already lost once to Weili and twice to Namajunas—and, to the chagrin of her colleagues, hasn't competed in more than a year. Former champ Carla Esparza (19-6) is also in the mix with a five-fight win streak, but that came against lower levels of competition. Ergo, not a lot going on outside the top two here, though it is still easily the most compelling women's division.

Back on the men's side, we can rule out light heavyweight, which, with apologies to champ Jan Blachowicz (28-8), doesn't posses a ton of transcendent talent or star power. The truth is that, for all Jon Jones' (26-1 [1 NC]) flirtations with heavyweight and persistent legal and personal problems—and seriously, how sad was it to see him cast out by the braintrust at Jackson-Wink? Those two made each other—his absence casts a long shadow over the division he ruled for nearly a decade without ever losing.

Heavyweight has a bona fide star in Francis Ngannou (16-3), but there's a triangle at the top with Ciryl Gane (10-0) and Stipe Miocic (20-4), two great fighters who haven't permeated the national sports consciousness.

Men's flyweight is a two-man race with champ Brandon Moreno (19-5-2) and Deiveson Figueiredo (20-2-1), who are scheduled for a trilogy fight in January at UFC 270. Askar Askarov (13-0-1) is intriguing—he retired Joseph Benavidez (28-8) in March—but hasn't done enough yet to break into the title conversation. The UFC might want to make a fight for Askarov soon if it wants to maintain his momentum. 

Middleweight is fun, but unless Robert Whittaker (23-5) can pull the upset in their inevitable-but-still-technically-unofficial rematch next year, Israel Adesanya (21-1) will continue to control this division. After these two, you're quickly left with the Jared Cannoniers (14-5) of the world.

Men's bantamweight is a terrific division, no two ways about it. With Rob Font (19-4) and Jose Aldo (30-7) circling the periphery, you have a rock-solid core of Petr Yan (15-2), TJ Dillashaw (17-4), Cory Sandhagen (14-3) and Aljamain Sterling (20-3). That's a murder's row right there. Yan and Sandhagen vie for the interim title October 30.

Now consider this: the interim belt is only in place because the lineal champ, Sterling, remains out as he continues to recover from neck surgery. Dillashaw, one of the best bantamweights ever, sits on the shelf with a knee injury—and before that missed two years with a drug suspension. These injuries muddy the waters, not only depriving us of great fights but preventing us from properly sorting out the title picture. Sorry, bantamweights. Close but no cigar.

Now we get to men's featherweight and lightweight. That's right: it's a two-horse race to determine the UFC's top division.

At featherweight, champ Alexander Volkanovski (23-1) may be the best fighter in the world this side of Usman. Most recently, he dispatched top contender Brian Ortega (15-2 [1 NC]) in a Fight of the Year candidate. If Yair Rodriguez (13-2 [1 NC]) can beat Max Holloway (22-6) in November, he'll be an exciting new presence on the contender scene. But that's a big if, as injuries and a failed drug test have kept him away from competition for two years.

The Korean Zombie Chan Sung Jung (17-6) is a respected action fighter, and while he's more well-rounded than people give him credit for, he looked a step behind when he lost to Ortega last year. The top five is rounded out by Calvin Kattar (22-5), a legitimately good fighter who has struggled to beat top competition, most recently in a lopsided and rather bloody decision loss to Holloway. 

That leaves the lightweights. In a way, the retirement of lightweight GOAT Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0) and the back-burnering of Conor McGregor (22-6) were the best things to happen to this division in some time. Nurmagomedov had a near-literal stranglehold on the division. Now it's anyone's game, and in this case that's a very good thing, because lightweight is chock full of killers, both established veterans and those hungry to make a name for themselves in the history books.

We'll take a deeper dive in a second, but these stats may tell you all you need to know: at featherweight, the champion and top five contenders have a combined UFC record of 56-15 and 2 NC, with 36 post-fight bonuses. The lightweights have a combined record of 69-22-1 with 45 bonuses. This indicates that the lightweight stable is deeper, more experienced and more exciting than its featherweight counterpart. 

Brand-new lightweight champ Charles Oliveira (31-8 [1 NC]) is an absolute joy to watch, a fight fan's fighter. Despite being only 31 years old, he holds the UFC record for submission wins with 14. But he's not infallible, especially not at this level, and especially given his history of mental lapses. That makes for a more wide-open field.

The wildly popular Dustin Poirier (28-6 [1 NC]), who in December will challenge Oliveira for the belt at UFC 269, could be in prime position to earn his first lineal title. After Poirier comes the ultra-violent Justin Gaethje (22-3), a well-rounded high-IQ fighter in Beneil Dariush (21-4-1), longtime Bellator champ Michael Chandler (22-6), and Islam Makhachev (20-1), who has been labeled the next Nurmagomedov by more than one observer (raises hand). 

Another advantage at 155 pounds compared with 145: these guys are all new to each other.

With the exception of Chandler, Oliveira has never faced any of the five fighters below him. Gaethje and Poirier have only faced each other. Dariush and Makhachev are entirely new to this level of the game. So there's plenty we don't know about this title picture. That means lots of fresh matchups and storylines.

By contrast, at featherweight Volkanovski has already beaten Ortega once and Holloway twice. The latter is particularly problematic, given that Holloway is the No. 1 contender. Ortega, sitting at No. 2, has already faced Volkanovski, Holloway and Zombie. Not a massive bottleneck, but a bottleneck nonetheless.

One final piece of evidence for the lightweights: When McGregor, the former dual-division champ and the most famous fighter in the world, sits at No. 9 on your rankings, you know you're fighting in a deep bracket.

There are stories to tell in every division, but if you're looking for the one with the most intrigue as the UFC embarks on a critical stretch for its marquee fighters, lightweight is at the top of the heap.

Masvidal-Edwards Finally Set

Three-piece and a soda? On December 11, you're going to want to add a jumbo tub of popcorn to the mix.

That's when welterweights Jorge Masvidal (35-15) and Leon Edwards (19-3 [1 NC]) will square off at UFC 269. 

Grudge matches don't come much grudgier than this. It's been simmering on the stove for two years now, ever since the two fighters and their camps came to blows backstage at UFC Fight Night 147. It was after that even that Masvidal made his infamous fried chicken comment, which became so popular Masvidal started printing T-shirts. 

It's an intriguing scrap as well, with both men more than capable of finding a stoppage. It's unlikely, however, that this one hits the ground, or ends with anything other than one man going out on his shield. 

Stone Cold Lead Pipe Lock of the Week

Record to date: 19-6

UFC Fight Night 195 goes down this weekend from Las Vegas, but, dude: This is not a good card. The main event is downright uncomfortable, with Aspen Ladd (9-1) trying her hand up at featherweight just two weeks after a scary weigh-in 10 pounds lighter. She'll do this against a total unknown in Norma Dumont (6-1) after Holly Holm (14-5) had to withdraw because of injury.

And that about sums it up. 

Luckily, all us conservative bettors have Bellator 268, also going down Saturday. Bet the house on perennially overlooked light heavyweight champ Vadim Nemkov (14-3), who is facing someone named Julius Anglickas (10-1), whose twin claims to fame are competing on Dana White's Contender Series and being in really good shape.

This is the evening's main event, and doubles as the second semifinal match of the promotion's Light Heavyweight Grand Prix. Nemkov won't pay off much, sitting at a -510 favorite over Anglickas, per DraftKings, but there's nothing wrong with a little easy money, even if it's not likely to put your kids through college. If nothing else, you'll get to see a great fighter in Nemkov do his thing. Lock it in and collect the W. 

Former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo might be looking to add a third title to his resume.

Cejudo called out UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who is coming off a unanimous decision win over Brian Ortega in a "fight of the year" contender in the main event of UFC 266 this past Saturday.

"Dana White, if you're listening, this is a real message. Forget the cringe, forget the persona, this is straight-up me," Cejudo told TMZ Sports. "I am the greatest combat athlete of all time, and I promise you, give me that opportunity, I will knock [Volkanovski] out in less than three rounds."

Cejudo last fought in May 2020 at UFC 249, defeating Dominick Cruz by second-round TKO to defend the bantamweight title. After the win, Cejudo announced his retirement from the Octagon.

Despite his retirement 17 months ago, Cejudo has not shied away from calling out fighters in the lighter weight classes. Now, he has turned his attention to Volkanovski after his showing on Saturday.

Volkanovski, who hadn't fought since July 2020, showed why he is a true champion by surviving two tight submission attempts by Ortega, who is a high-level black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Despite the impressive performance, Cejudo believes he has the tools to beat Volkanovski.

"As much as I saw good things from Volkanovski, there still is a lot of holes," Cejudo said. "I believe my height will be a problem, because he is a couple inches taller than me. My speed, my wrestling, my experience, I've been in there with the best."

Cejudo is one of four fighters ever to hold two UFC titles simultaneously, joining Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes. He also holds an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling and he dubbed himself with the nickname "Triple C."

No fighter has ever won a UFC championship in three different divisions, which is what Cejudo would be attempting to do. But there is nothing official, as he is still considered to be retired.

Volkanovski responded to a tweet Cejudo posted Saturday night, dismissing the notion that Cejudo would have a chance against him.

"F--k Henry Cejudo,” Volkanovski said at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference. "He’s called out everyone. ... You actually believe the s--t that comes out of his mouth? Nah. I’ll squash the little germ."     

Alexander Volkanovski might be the next truly great mixed martial arts champion. 

Volkanovski, the reigning UFC featherweight champion, picked up arguably the most impressive victory of his career on Saturday night, defending his strap with a decisive unanimous decision against Brian Ortega in the main event of UFC 266.

The 32-year-old Australian was the picture of dominance for the vast majority of the fight, deftly navigating a significant reach disadvantage to force feed Ortega a steady diet of crisp boxing combinations and chopping low kicks. It bears noting that he was very nearly submitted by an Ortega guillotine in the third-round, but outside of that scare, he looked like a champion who's here to stay—a champion who might just assert himself as a generational talent not unlike Jose Aldo and Max Holloway before him. 

Even before UFC 266, Volkanovski was showing the signs of a fighter capable of reaching those lofty heights. He stepped into the Octagon on Saturday with 19 consecutive wins in the rearview mirror—a streak he extended to a ridiculous 20 by beating Ortega. That streak, which clocks in among the best in MMA at present, wasn't built against low-level opposition either.

Even before he made it to the bright lights of the UFC, Volkanovski was beating battle-tested fighters like RIZIN lightweight star Yusuke Yachi and current UFC lightweight talent Jamie Mullarkey in Australia and the wider South Pacific. In fact, in the 14 fights that preceded his move to the UFC, the Australian went 13-1 against opponents with a combined record of 116-50 (per Tapology). For context, the first 14 men the great Khabib Nurmagomedov fought had a combined record of 23-26. Those numbers may not be exactly accurate—record-keeping is not easy in MMA—but one way or the other, Volkanovski had an undeniably challenging rise. 

Things didn't get any easier when he arrived in the UFC.

After a trio of wins over Yusuke Kasuya, Mizuti Hirota and Shane Young, he was effectively thrown to the wolves, as he was matched up with a procession of surging prospects, gritty veterans and world-class contenders. The most notable accomplishments on his record during that stretch include a pair of impressive knockouts over Jeremy Kennedy and Chad Mendes, a decision win over Jose Aldo, and a pair of decision triumphs over Holloway—the first of which kickstarted the Australian's reign as the UFC featherweight champion.

Volkanovski has shown new layers of his game in every one of those fights, gradually revealing a skillset with few visible deficits or weaknesses. His fight with Ortega was no exception to that rule.  

This time around, the champ proved that, in addition to the laundry list of strengths we already knew he had—the wrestling, the striking, the power, the cardio—he also has plenty of heart and some truly impressive submission defense.

"It was deep," Volkanovski said at the UFC 266 post-fight press conference, looking back on his daring third-round guillotine escape. "It was 'f--k, I'm about to lose the belt' deep. That was as deep as it can get. No s--t. I remember I was making f--king weird noises."

Ortega, for his part, certainly seemed impressed by the champion's defensive capabilities. 

"I thought he was done," Ortega said post-fight. "I was trying to go for his head, but he's tough as hell. I tried to finish him. I heard him gargling, but he slipped out. He's the champ for a reason."

Volkanovski has never been a particularly popular champion. For all his skill, he's seemingly struggled to catch on with fans. Perhaps that's because he's generally been pretty soft-spoken when there's a microphone in front of him. Perhaps it's because his title-winning victory and first successful defense were both hotly debated decisions against the ultra-popular Holloway. It's hard to say, but after his comprehensive and gutsy victory over Ortega, fans seem to be coming around—and not just in terms of his personality.

Not only did the fans seem to enjoy the more outspoken version of the Australian we got leading up to UFC 266, but they seem to be recognizing that he's not just passing through. If the post-fight Twitter talk was any indication, much of the talk at the water cooler come Monday will surround Volkanovski's place among the sport's best fighters—juggernauts like Jon Jones and dominating champions like Kamaru Usman.

Volkanovski has the opportunity to further cement his reputation among fans over the course of his next few Octagon appearances. At the UFC 266 post-fight press conference, he suggested that his next fight could be a trilogy against Holloway, or, if Holloway loses to Yair Rodriguez in November, a bold treasure hunt in the lightweight division. 

"I'm expecting Max to go out there and do his thing, and we're gonna be running that trilogy," Volkanovski said. "That's gonna be a huge f--king fight."

"That's not until November, and I want to fight," he added. "So, do I move up, fight at lightweight, maybe fight the champion? Give me something, because I had 14 months off because of this whole [lockdown]."

Success on either of those potential missions would further cement Volkanovski as a truly special talent. Even his most dedicated haters would probably start to come around. One way or the other, however, the increasingly dominant Australian champion seems ready and willing to keep silencing his naysayers, one lopsided win at a time.

"All them doubters—I'm gonna keep proving you wrong time and time again," he said.