Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to the question of whether Diego Lopes deserves to get a title rematch next despite the fact he was already beaten by the Australian star earlier this year.
It’s been suggested that undefeated fighters like the No.1 ranked Movsar Evloev and the 4th placed Lerone Murphy should now be ahead of Lopes in the pecking order, and Volkanovski appears to agree with that.
“I thought Movsar was deserving,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “Lerone Murphy, I thought they were the two guys. They were the guys I called out.”
In the end though it seems the UFC had the final say, and putting his own personal feelings aside, from an entertainment perspective Volkanovski can see where they are coming from.
“UFC really wanted Lopes, but at least, hey, you you know at least everyone knows they’re in for a treat. It’s going to be a very exciting fight.
“With your Movsars and Lerones, they’re probably more deserving, but are they going to bring the fight like Lopes would? I think the fans are going to appreciate the fight that me and Lopes are going to have.”
Volkanovski’s coach Joe Lopez has also spoken out about the issue and admitted that they hadn’t anticipated that they’d have to fight Lopes again.
“I guess it was a bit of a shock to anybody, because no disrespect to Diego because I think he’s a great fighter but we just beat him,” Lopez told Submission Radio. “Movsar and Murphy, I think on paper are probably more deserving of that title shot, but we don’t call the shots, that’s up to the UFC and they’ve given us Diego, so that’s the card they’ve given us and that’s the one we’re going to play.”
This match-up isn’t the only one that’s ruffling feathers as people are also questioning why No.5 ranked lightweight Paddy Pimblett is getting an interim 155lb title shot against Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 324 in January, despite the fact that Arman Tsarukyan is now the No.1 contender in the division after his impressive submission win over Dan Hooker just last weekend.
“Make it make sense,” Tsarukyan wrote alongside a face-palm emoji on X after the Gaethje vs. Pimblett fight was announced.
It’s a particularly bitter pill for Tsarukyan to swallow as he now knows that not only is he missing out on this interim title opportunity, but also the winner of that fight will now be getting the next shot at current champion Ilia Topuria instead of him.
