Ilia Topuria Snubbed as Alexander Volkanovski Calls Islam Makhachev ‘The Only’ Fighter to Give Him Hard Time Inside the Cage

Alexander Volkanovski has shared the octagon with some of the toughest names in the game. From defending his featherweight title multiple times to moving up in weight to chase greatness, the former champ has never shied away from elite competition. He’s faced killers in two divisions, and while not every result went his way, Volk has always brought the fight. That includes bouts against both Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria—two men who now hold wins over him.

Despite that, Volkanovski recently made it clear that, in his eyes, only one of them truly gave him a hard time. And no, it wasn’t the guy who knocked him out and took his belt. In a statement that would definitely raise eyebrows, Volk named Islam Makhachev as the only fighter who has really challenged him immensely inside the cage.

When two men step into the octagon, the outcome cannot be predicted with certainty irrespective of who the fighters are. Every fighter has a puncher’s chance and we have seen massive upsets time and time again. While getting a knockout win is surely more entertaining for the fans, dominating a fighter over five rounds is a more difficult task and one that also proves unequivocally who the better fighter is. 

In the case of Topuria vs Volkanovski, although the champion lost his belt after getting knocked out in a devastating manner, there are always things to take into consideration about the fight. Did he give himself enough time to recover after the Islam fight? Was he mentally a 100% going into the fight? And so on. While Topuria won the fight fair and square, it can not be said that the outcome would be the same if they both faced each other 10 times.

That is exactly what the champion feels as well. ‘Volk’ was recently asked in an interview about the toughest fighter he has faced and he said –

“I don’t believe anyone can beat me. The only person that I can see giving me a tough fight for five rounds is Islam Makhachev in the first one as you have seen. Everyone else has got a puncher’s chance, that is just how I always look at it. I truly believe that, it’s the confidence I have in myself, no one can beat me, they can catch me, but they can’t beat me.”

The former champion has been wanting to avenge his loss against Topuria ever since it happened. Unfortunately with Topuria vacating the belt and moving up, it might never happen, Still, the former champion feels he has secured the next best option.

Volkanovski to have gold around his waist again?

Volkanovski found out Topuria was vacating the featherweight belt the same way the rest of us did—when Dana White announced it. Volk already knew he was going to fight Diego Lopes, but he had no idea it would be for the vacant title.

Speaking on the Believe You Me podcast, he said – “I actually found out when Dana said it live. I was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect that.’”

Volkanovski, who held the 145-pound title from 2019 to early 2024 and defended it five times, had been pushing for a fight—rematch or not. “At that stage I was like, just give me anyone—interim, whatever. Let me fight,” he explained.

While he had hoped to run it back with Topuria, Volk sees the title shot against Lopes at UFC 314 as the next best thing. He thinks Ilia probably has something big lined up, maybe even a fight with Islam Makhachev.

“Good on him,” Volk added. “I wanted that fight, but hey, I’ve still got a shot at the belt—and that’s what matters.”