Irish megastar Conor McGregor is currently expected to throw down against Michael Chandler followed by their coaching stint on TUF 31. But before the promotion has even scheduled a date or venue for the fight, Conor seems to have set his eye on another dream matchup. And the potential opponent is none other than current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
It all started when ‘The Notorious‘ appeared in an interview earlier with UFC’s Megan Olivi. The two discussed a variety of subjects, including his infamous recovery from the leg injury. However, he made heads turn after expressing interest in facing ‘Volk’ down the line. He said, “Even like the 145 lbs champion Volkanovski, I could, you know, that’d be a nice one at some stage.”
Conor McGregor and Alexander Volkanovski trade shots on Twitter
This led to the MMA world stirring the pot on social media. Even ESPN MMA posted a tweet suggesting that if the two were to meet at featherweight, the winner would have defeated every undisputed featherweight champion. Alexander indicated his willingness to fight, but at lightweight. He wrote – “Let’s do it at Lightweight 🧨.”
Known for his quick comebacks, McGregor responded with a series of tweets, as he went on to taunt Volkanovski. The Irish superstar mocked the UFC’s P4P rankings as he claimed that the Australian relied on weight divisions to face him.
Alexander swiftly responded, expressing his readiness to fight ‘The Notorious’ regardless of weight class. He wrote – “Anytime. Anywhere. Any weight!” Conor immediately fired back and questioned Volk’s initial request for a 155 lbs showdown. Conor said, “Then why ask for 155? Also, that is my saying.”
Volkanovski and McGregor responded to a post about a hypothetical fight between them 👀
(h/t @AlexVolkanovski, @TheNotoriousMMA) pic.twitter.com/2W8wxY54PT
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 30, 2023
The featherweight king went on to highlight his past experiences fighting across multiple weight classes. Alexander wrote – “Yeah you say it, but I did it. I’ve fought at Middleweight, Welterweight, lightweight and Featherweight.”
While Conor has yet to respond to Volkanovski’s final tweet, the heated exchange has now led fans to speculate a potential matchup between the two. However, it would only ever happen after the Irishman gets past Michael Chandler, a bout that may happen by year-end.
With a win over Volkanovski, McGregor could repeat his iconic history
Even though a fight between Conor McGregor and Alexander Volkanovski is far from materializing, it surely is intriguing for more than one reason. In an ideal world, if the Dublin native breezes past Chandler and gets to face Volk next, fans could see an iconic portion of UFC’s history repeating itself.
For fans unaware, Conor McGregor previously coached on TUF 22 in 2015 against fellow coach Urijah Faber. Following the highly entertaining season, McGregor took on Jose Aldo. At the time, the Brazilian was the pound-for-pound no. 1 fighter, with an undefeated run of almost 8 years.
Known for his vicious kicks and brutal boxing, Aldo was Conor’s toughest challenge at the time. While most of the roster sided with the former UFC and WEC champion, McGregor would soon silence them all. The highly touted December 2015 bout saw McGregor knock out Jose in just 13 seconds of the very first round. The night would change the MMA world forever.
At the moment, Volkanovski stands at No. 2 on the official UFC rankings. right behind Jon Jones. However, in terms of the featherweight division, many consider him the all-time GOAT. It is worth mentioning that Alex has gone on record multiple times to state that he still considers Aldo the GOAT.
Anyone who claims to be a Conor fan knows that he loves challenges. Not only did Conor have a meteoric rise in the UFC, but he ran through whoever the promotion put in front of him. Thus, a showdown with the featherweight champ seems far from impossible. In terms of weight class, fans speculate it could happen at 155 lbs or above.
If everything goes well for Conor in the Chandler fight, a scrap between him and Volkanovski could possibly happen somewhere next year. While we await the actual timeline to unveil itself, Conor’s recent foreshadowing will keep fans buzzing for a good while.
Discussion about this post