Alexander Volkanovski makes bold prediction on who he will call out after beating Diego Lopes: "I haven’t even said this to the UFC"

Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes will go to war for the vacant featherweight title at UFC 314 on April 12. Despite their fight being more than six weeks away, the Australian already has his next opponent in mind should he be crowned the champion for a second time in his UFC tenure.

Many fans and pundits expected Volkanovski's next bout to be a title rematch with Ilia Topuria. However, the Spaniard has opted to move to lightweight, with the 145-pound weight cut proving to be too much for Topuria's body at this stage of his career.

Given that Lopes was defeated in his UFC debut by Movsar Evloev, who holds an unbeaten 19-0 record, there have been queries about why Evloev was not awarded the title shot.

However, the undefeated featherweight should worry not, as Volkanovski plans on giving him the next title shot following UFC 314. 'The Great' was recently interviewed by Ariel Helwani, where he said this:

"Movsar, he is undefeated.... What is earning [a title shot]? Is earning being active, fighting anyone, anywhere, anytime? That's a lot of brownie points... Look what I'm planning on doing. I'm telling you I'm gonna go there, I'm winning the belt and I'll call him out. So he can probably just wait if he wants. I haven't even said this to the UFC. Maybe I will go... I'm winning that title and I'll fight [Evloev] three months later. Tell me the date that we can do it and I'll call the shots that night."

Catch Alexander Volkanovski's comments below (20:05):

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Aljamain Sterling explains what Diego Lopes needs to do to beat Alexander Volkanovski

UFC 314 will host an electric featherweight matchup between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes. The Brazilian-born Mexican fighter has won five fights since his defeat to Movsar Evloev at UFC 288, and Lopes has quickly grown into a fan favorite due to his aggressive fighting style.

But according to Aljamain Sterling, the No. 3-ranked featherweight contender has much work to do before fight night if he hopes of beating 'The Great'. Sterling recently took to X to share advice with Lopes, writing:

"Some people actually watch fights and break them down. It'll be a fun fight because of how Lopes fights but if Lopes doesn't clean up these holes, then Volk will regain the title. Your post is an honest assesment of his past few fights."

Catch Sterling's preview Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes below: