Josh Emmett calls out Alexander Volkanovski after Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez fails to throw up clear-cut number one contender

Josh Emmett is eyeing a potential fight against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski for his next bout. Emmett defeated Calvin Kattar via split decision last month and has since been lobbying for a showdown with 'The Great'.

Intriguingly, Emmett’s chances of securing a title shot against Volkanovski have seemingly increased after tonight’s anticlimactic featherweight bout between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez.

The Ortega vs. Rodriguez matchup, which headlined the UFC Long Island event tonight, witnessed Rodriguez win via first-round TKO after Ortega suffered a shoulder injury. Heading into the event, many believed that the winner of the highly-anticipated fight could earn a title shot.

However, given how the fight ended, there’s currently no clear-cut No.1-contender in the UFC featherweight division. Capitalizing on this, Emmett took to Twitter to challenge Volkanovski for the title. Emmett tweeted:

“Let me know when your ready Champ!”

Presently, Emmett is tied with Yair Rodriguez at the No.3 position in the official UFC featherweight rankings and is riding an impressive five-fight win streak. That said, 'The Fighting Falmer' might end up facing someone other than Volkanovski next.

Ortega is out with the shoulder injury he just sustained, and Volkanovski has been dealing with a hand injury that’s expected to keep him out of action for a few months.

During the UFC Long Island post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White suggested that the UFC could possibly book an interim UFC featherweight title matchup between Emmett and Rodriguez. However, nothing’s been officially confirmed yet.

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Alexander Volkanovski on a potential fight against Josh Emmett

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski recently put forth his take regarding a possible fight with Josh Emmett. Speaking to Sportskeeda’s James Lynch at the UFC 276 media day a few weeks ago, Volkanovski expressed his respect for Emmett as a fighter but emphasized that he’s looking for bigger fights. Volkanovski said:

"I want the big fights. Is everyone screaming his name? I don't know. That's not a knock to him. But we'll see. We'll see what happens. I want someone screaming that name. If not, let's look at something else."

Watch Alexander Volkanovski discuss the topic in the video below:

Furthermore, during the UFC Long Island broadcast, the UFC officially announced that Charles Oliveira will fight Islam Makhachev for the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 280 on October 22nd. Volkanovski, who’s had a long-standing dream of achieving double-champ status, has now posted a tweet to address the matchup.

The Australian champion asserted that he’d like to fight the winner of Oliveira vs. Makhachev for the lightweight title next. Whether 'The Great' moves up to lightweight or defends his featherweight title upon his return remains to be seen.