Is Volkanovski the Best Featherweight in UFC History?

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

After defeating Diego Lopes, who has become well-known as one of the UFC's most anticipated prospects, via unanimous decision for UFC 314, future UFC hall of famer Alexander Volkanovski has added to his legacy and career portfolio by becoming the first male fighter in UFC history to win a championship fight after the age of 35.

Prior to the championship bout against Lopes, Volkanovski's accomplishments had already solidified his status as one of the greatest featherweights in UFC history. After his performance and appearance as his prime self against Lopes, Volkanovski has now made a strong case for himself to be named the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.

Despite the difficulty of putting Volkanovski's legacy and impact over UFC featherweight legend Jose Aldo's accomplishments, Volkanovski has served as one of the UFC's most entertaining fighters and has never backed down from fighting the best in the fight business. Since rising to the top of the UFC rankings, Volkanovski has won seven title fights, falling behind only to Jose Aldo's 11 title fights. Also, Volkanovski has gone through a tough road while staying at the top, fighting through a trilogy war with Max Holloway. Volkanovski has fought Brian Ortega, Yair Rodríguez, Islam Makhachev twice, and once against Ilia Topuria. Despite losing to Makhachev and Topuria, Volkanovski has continued to show up and face adversity on the biggest stage.

Volkanovski's skill set has never been in question. At the same time, he currently holds the highest striking differential (+3.09), the third highest significant strike accuracy (56.5%) in the division's history, and the third most significant strike landed (1,525). With his consistency and remaining active while in the octagon, Volkanovski held the UFC Men's Pound-For-Pound No. 1 spot throughout 2022 and 2023.

After coming back from two consecutive knockout losses, Volkanovski reclaimed the featherweight title even after being knocked down in the second round and allegedly experiencing a moment of vision loss during the fight against a reckless Lopes. Against all odds and the unbeatable record of 0-17 of fighters attempting to claim a UFC title after the age of 35, Volkanovski managed to rewrite UFC history with class and in prime form.

From the end of his walkout and stepping onto the canvas in the octagon, I knew Volkanovski had come to win. As expected, Volkanovski utilized his experience and patience against Lopes, taking on a more patient and counter-attack approach to the fight. Throughout the fight, Volkanovski's straight jap landed consistently and effortlessly, demoralizing Lopes and his confidence during the early rounds of their main event fight. Volkanovski's counterpunches appeared to land after every exchange with Lopes. The fight ended with both fighters combining for 221 significant strikes, 158 of them coming from Volkanovski.

During a post-fight interview, Volkanovski claimed to have been blinded after being sliced in the eye by Lopes' glove, leading to Volkanovski appearing to be hurt and retreating. Despite debates before the fight alluding to the possibility of Volkanovski's reach and height being a factor in the fight, Volkanovski managed to tag Lopes multiple times during the fight. Lopes' toughness and strong chin kept him in the fight, especially after eating power punches from Volkanovski that have a history of putting great fighters to sleep and face down on the canvas. Volkanovski never let his pride and emotions get the best out of him, resulting in not fighting Lopes' type of fight and sticking to the game plan. After Lopes continued to taunt Volkanovski into stepping at the center of the octagon to just throw straight punches with no hesitation, Volkanovski did not bite into the young fighter's bait, resulting in becoming a two-time UFC featherweight champion.

Once it's all said and done, Volkanovski will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame after a successful and entertaining career. With a 27-4 record along with 13 wins by knockout, Volkanovski has remained at the top for the entirety of his UFC career. After overcoming the “washed" allegations and living up to his Alexander “the great" name, Volkanovski's UFC career is destined to come to an end soon. All UFC fans can do now is wait to see what Volkanovski plans on doing in the future.

In all honesty, I believe he should hang up the gloves while at the top. He has nothing left to prove to UFC fans and why not retire with the belt on your waist instead of leaving the UFC similar to Tony Ferguson, who went from a championship-caliber fighter to a physically damaged UFC fighter that has struggled to call it quits and has since tumbled down the ranks with losing streaks.