Alexander Volkanovski sends Ilia Topuria a message hinting at potential rematch at lightweight: “I’ll go do my thing"

Alexander Volkanovski's next fight will be for the featherweight title, but it won't come against former opponent Ilia Topuria. The Spaniard has opted to vacate the belt and move to lightweight instead, with UFC CEO Dana White stating that Topuria's reasons were based on his difficulty making the 145-pound weight limit.

'The Great' will face off against Diego Lopes for the vacant belt in the main event of UFC 314 on Apr. 12. But having previously challenged for the lightweight title before, against Islam Makhachev, Volkanovski has not given up hope of a rematch with 'El Matador' at 155 pounds.

Following news of his title fight, the former featherweight champion shared a message with Topuria, saying this:

"Stay focused, stay determined, get that f**king belt back... I made it pretty obvious that I was fighting soon. We did have a date, as I said in the last video, I didn't know exactly who it was going to be until not that long ago... Fair play to Ilia, yeah. I'll go do my thing, maybe we can just make a bigger fight after this. We'll see what happens. See whatever's in store for him, let him do his thing. But I'll go win this title and maybe we can make an even bigger rematch."

Check out Alexander Volkanovski's comments below (18:45):

---

Alexander Volkanovski tells Diego Lopes that he won't be winning the title at UFC 314

Alexander Volkanovski will face Diego Lopes in Miami at UFC 314 for the vacant featherweight title. The Australian is currently marked as a slight favorite over his opponent on the betting odds, and 'The Great' recently sent Lopes a message about the outcome of their clash.

Volkanovski's grappling coach, Craig Jones, shared some immensely high praise for the 30-year-old's Brazilian jiu-jitsu skillset. This means that the former champion will need to be on top form against the featherweight contender, and Volkanovski has predicted that fans may see the best version of him against Lopes.

During a recent video uploaded to YouTube, the former champion said:

"You may be seeing the best Volk you've ever seen... I'm only going to get better from here. That's a scary thing, especially for Lopes. Lopes is in for a very, very, very hard fight. He's a gamer, he's a great dude. I've got a lot of respect for him. Very nice fella, I'm sure he's expecting to go out there and win the belt. But sorry mate, that ain't happening."

Check out Alexander Volkanovski's message to Diego Lopes below (5:45):