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#2. Alexander Volkanovski vs UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira
Regardless of championships, Alexander Volkanovski vs UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira could be an appealing fight in the future. Based on Volkanovski’s performance against Brian Ortega, it’d be interesting to see if he could replicate that against another submission specialist.
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Volkanovski has stated multiple times since his win over Ortega that he doesn’t want to be inactive. Oliveira is currently scheduled to defend his title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 269. Depending on how that fight transpires, the UFC should keep all options open regarding a possible champion vs champion bout.
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Volkanovski-Oliveira would still be a fight that makes sense at lightweight even if Poirier wins the title. Prior to competing at lightweight, Oliveira competed in the featherweight division, so size wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Throughout Oliveira’s career, he has showcased his exceptional grappling skills en route to submission victories. Since his UFC debut, Oliveira has won 14 fights by submission, the most in promotion’s history. Volkanovski will have his hands full should he get caught in a similar position as he did against Ortega.
#1. Alexander Volkanovski vs Conor McGregor
If Alexander Volkanovski ever decides to move up to lightweight full-time, a fight with Conor McGregor makes sense. Prior to his move to lightweight, McGregor began his UFC career as a featherweight and had a meteoric rise to superstardom. McGregor was a force to be reckoned with at 145lbs. He defeated Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier and Chad Mendes and culminated in his rise by knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds.
After beating everybody there was to beat, McGregor moved up to welterweight and lightweight, and became a two-division champion. Alexander Volkanovski is slowly heading down the same path. The UFC featherweight champion has defeated former champion Max Holloway twice, Jose Aldo, and now Brian Ortega.
If Alexander Volkanovski continues defending his title, he will be in the discussion of greatest featherweight of all-time. What would really bolster that claim is if he moved up and fought McGregor. Volkanovski could be a very difficult fighter for McGregor to contain, whether it’s takedowns or submissions.
McGregor’s return to the UFC clearly hasn’t gone the way he wanted it. McGregor returned to fight Donald Cerrone prior to the pandemic and then remained inactive for over a year. McGregor would then lose back-to-back fights and in his most recent fight, he sustained an injury.
McGregor taking up a fight against Volkanovski wouldn’t be so far-fetched. On the contrary, both fighters would have a lot to gain. For Alexander Volkanovski, it’d be an opportunity on a big pay-day to stake his claim as being the greatest featherweight. For McGregor, picking up a decisive win over Volkanovski would etch his name in history by defeating another former champion.
Volkanovski might be a slight favorite heading into the fight, but it would definitely be an entertaining spectacle from the press-conferences to the fight itself.
