Tag: Alexander Volkanovski

30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Which top-10 ranking is most questionable?

Did Stipe Miocic or anyone else take somebody’s rightful spot among the top 10 greatest UFC fighters?

The UFC’s 30th anniversary date has come and gone, and in the build-up to the milestone date, MMA Junkie counted down its 30 greatest fighters of all time to compete for the promotion.

There was plenty of debate about the entire list from top to bottom, and one of the major discussion points was about our top 10: Who doesn’t belong there?

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The final list was tabulated through a points system after voting from MMA Junkie’s 12-person staff. Two names brought up as being too high were [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] at No. 9 and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] at No. 10, a major point of conversation on MMA Junkie’s special edition of “Spinning Back Clique,” where the majority of our staff came together to discuss and debate the finer points of the list, including which top-10 fighter is ranked too high.

Check out the discussion in the video above, or watch the entire 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time podcast below.

Video: Discussing UFC’s 2024 tantalizing trio of title tilts

Did the UFC get it right with its first series of title matchups slated for the first quarter of 2024? Our “Spinning Back Clique” discusses.

The UFC has already announced three title fights to kick off the first quarter of 2024.

Starting things off in January, UFC 297 in Toronto, Canada will be headlined by a middleweight championship fight between champ [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] and challenger [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag]. The fight will be Strickland’s first title defense after taking it from Israel Adesanya in a dominant display at UFC 293. Du Plessis is coming off a stoppage of former champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 and has won his last eight fights.

The following month, at a location and venue yet to be announced, [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] returns to featherweight to defend his title against an undefeated challenger in [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]. Volkanovski is back to his division after a short-notice rematch against Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title. Topuria topped Josh Emmett in their main event tilt in June.

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In March, [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]’s first bantamweight title defense will be a rematch against [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag]. O’Malley defeated Aljamain Sterling to become champion at UFC 292. Vera is coming off a unanimous decision win over Pedro Munhoz in August. “Sugar” and “Chito” first met at UFC 252 in 2020, where Vera won by TKO in the first round.

Did the promotion get these matchups right, or should these champions be facing other contenders? Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Nolan King and Brian “Goze” Garcia answered that question with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode on YouTube below.

Why Aljamain Sterling likes Ilia Topuria’s chances vs. Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298

Aljamain Sterling worries about Alexander Volkanovski’s quick turnaround against Ilia Topuria at UFC 298.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] worries about UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag]’s quick turnaround vs. [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] at UFC 298.

After suffering a knockout loss to Islam Makhachev last month, Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) will make less than a four-month turnaround to defend his featherweight title against unbeaten Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in the Feb. 17 headliner.

Having experienced a clean knockout loss before, Sterling advises Volkanovski to take more time off to recover. He sees a fight against a knockout artist like Topuria as a dangerous move.

“If he does make the walk for February, the way it sits right now, I do think we’re going to see an upset,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “I hate to say it because it makes it seem like I’m going against Volkanovski, I’m doubting Volkanovski, but I’m not. What I’m saying is given the situation, I think now is the time for a hard-hitter, boxer who can actually grapple but just doesn’t grapple in Topuria, to get a guy like Volkanovski.

“He puts together better punching combinations. Volkanovski’s more pot shot here, here, here, and it’s like an accumulative damage that he does and then eventually he finds the finishing touches. But Topuria, when he hits you, he puts everything into those punches, into those body shots. I think if Volkanovski’s not the sharpest that he can be, which would have been before taking that Islam fight … but now I’m liking Topuria’s chances, and I have to lean on the side of the contender in this one.”

Volkanovski is widely considered as one of the greatest featherweights of all time. “The Great” has defended his title five times – twice against Max Holloway, Brian Ortega, Chan Sun Jung, and most recently Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Full list and videos

To commemorate the UFC’s 30th anniversary, this is our definitive list of the promotion’s 30 greatest fighters of all time.

To commemorate the UFC’s 30th anniversary, MMA Junkie has compiled its definitive list of the 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time. We revealed one every day until the anniversary of UFC 1, which took place Nov. 12, 1993.

Our complete rankings, along with videos for each fighter, can be viewed below.

About the list: All 12 members of our staff submitted their own individual 30 greatest UFC fighters list. Each fighter was assigned a corresponding numerical value based on where they were ranked on an individual’s list, i.e. No. 1 = 30, No. 2 = 29, etc. We took those numbers and added them up to get a total number for each fighter to determine the composite ranking of MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Nov. 6-12)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Nov. 6-12.

Alexander Volkanovski: Ilia Topuria well-rounded, but needs humbling at UFC 298

Alexander Volkanovski will look to shut down Ilia Topuria’s hype at UFC 298.

[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] will look to shut down [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]’s hype at UFC 298.

Five-time defending featherweight champion Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) takes on unbeaten Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in the Feb. 17 headliner.

Volkanovski acknowledges the threat Topuria brings, but is ready to remind everyone why he is the king of the division.

“He’s a powerful dude. He’s good everywhere,” Volkanovski told Fox Sports Australia. “He’s not one-dimensional. He’s obviously very well-rounded. I just believe my skills and my understanding of the game is just going to be that little bit too much for him. He’s a young, hungry dude – undefeated, very, very confident – but I think he needs a little bit of humbling, so I’m glad to be the man to do that.”

Volkanovski was initially adamant that he could fight Topuria at UFC 297 on Jan. 20. But coming off a knockout loss this past October to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, Volkanovski thought pushing the fight back was the wise thing to do.

“We just thought that would be a little bit too soon,” Volkanovski said. “We want to follow all protocols and do everything right, obviously, after the last one and I’m lucky enough to have a great team around me who have dealt with a lot of concussions through football.

“I’ve got the right team around me and we just thought that January was too soon. I was lucky enough to have the UFC and the guys there make that happen and move things around for me, which I’m grateful for, and I think the timing will be perfect.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

UFC 298 official for Feb. 17 with Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria headliner

Alexander Volkanovski’s title fight vs. Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 officially has a date.

Featherweight champion [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag]’s title fight vs. [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] at UFC 298 has a date.

Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) will look to notch his sixth title defense when he takes on unbeaten Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) on Feb. 17, the UFC announced Wednesday morning. A location and venue weren’t mentioned.

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Volkanovski will return to featherweight after falling short against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev a second time at UFC 294. With a full training camp, Volkanovski took Makhachev to the brink in their first fight at UFC 284, but he stepped in on less than two weeks’ notice for a second opportunity last month in Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski lost the rematch by first-round knockout.

In between his lightweight title fights against Makhachev, Volkanovski finished Yair Rodriguez by third-round TKO to retain his 145-pound title at UFC 290 this past July.

Topuria has looked dominant since joining the UFC roster in 2020. After four straight finishes over Damon Jackson, Ryan Hall, Jai Herbert, and Bryce Mitchell, the Georgian fighter dominated Josh Emmett in the UFC on ABC 5 main event to earn his third bonus in a row.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

Dana White announces three UFC title fights to headline three pay-per-views in early 2024

Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis, Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria, and Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera are all lined up.

According to UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag], the promotion has three pay-per-view main events lined up for the first quarter of 2024.

White on Monday posted a video on social media to announce three title fights that will headline three separate pay-per-views to open the new year: [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] will defend his middleweight title vs. [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] in January; [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] will put his featherweight title on the line against [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] in February; and bantamweight champ [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] will face [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] in March.

Only Strickland vs. Du Plessis has an official date of Jan. 20 at UFC 297, with Toronto as the location, according to ESPN. White did not include specific dates or locations for Volkanovski vs. Topuria or O’Malley vs. Vera in his video announcement.

Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) getting the title shot at 185 pounds is a break for the South African as the announcement comes on the heels of Khamzat Chimaev suffering a torn hand ligament in his fight with Kamaru Usman last month at UFC 294. White said prior to UFC 294 that the Usman-Chimaev winner would be next in line to challenge Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC). Chimaev won by majority decision.

Du Plessis was set up to challenge then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya after he finished ex-champ Rober Whittaker this past July, but he couldn’t make an eight-week turnaround because of injury. As a result, Strickland got the title shot instead at UFC 293 and dominated Adesanya for five rounds to dethrone the two-time champ.

Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) will return to featherweight after a second failed attempt at claiming the lightweight title with another loss to Islam Makhachev last month. Volkanovski took the rematch with Makhachev on less than two weeks’ notice and was knocked out with a head kick in the first round at UFC 294. His only two losses in the UFC are to Makhachev at lightweight. Volkanovski will aim to make his sixth consecutive defense of his featherweight belt when he faces undefeated Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who is coming off a five-round unanimous decision win over Josh Emmett this past June in the UFC on ABC 5 headliner.

O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) vs. Vera (23-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) is a rematch of their August 2020 fight that “Chito” won by first-round TKO. It’s the only blemish on O’Malley’s career, which he’s always disputed as being legit because he was injured during the finishing sequence. O’Malley is looking to defend his belt for the first time after claiming it from Aljamain Sterling this past August at UFC 292. That same night, Vera defeated Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision for his fifth victory in his past six fights.

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30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Alexander Volkanovski ranked No. 9

Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski earned his spot high on our list of greatest UFC fighters with an impressive winning streak and title reign.

The UFC is celebrating its 30th year and to commemorate the milestone, MMA Junkie has compiled its 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time. Every day until the anniversary of UFC 1 on Nov. 12 (1993), we will reveal one fighter on our list.

Today, MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom brings you No. 9: [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag].

You can watch Tom’s career retrospective on Volkanovski above; video produced by Abbey Subhan.

Also see:

About the list: All 12 members of our staff submitted their own individual 30 greatest UFC fighters list. Each fighter was assigned a corresponding numerical value based on where they were ranked on an individual’s list, i.e. No. 1 = 30, No. 2 = 29, etc. We took those numbers and added them up to get a total number for each fighter to determine the composite ranking of MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time.

Why Diego Lopes believes Alexander Volkanovski made the right call fighting Islam Makhachev at UFC 294

Diego Lopes doesn’t think Alexander Volkanovski should regret taking Islam Makhachev on short notice at UFC 294.

After seeing [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] lose to [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] by knockout, many have questioned Volkanovski’s decision to take the rematch on short notice.

Volkanovski accepted to fill in for an injured Charles Oliveira and take on Makhachev in a rematch on less than two weeks’ notice in the main event of UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi this past Saturday. Yet, despite the criticism by many, fellow UFC featherweight [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] thinks Volkanovski made the correct call.

“I don’t think it was a mistake since the first time was very close,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “The first fight was very close and a lot of people saw Volkanovski winning and other people saw Makhachev winning. The confidence that Volkanovski had taking this fight was very high. I think I would’ve done the same.

“If I had a close fight against someone a weight class above me and for the title, I would’ve taken the fight, too. Now, after seeing the fight and getting a result, everyone is going to say it was a mistake. Only us fighters know the feeling of seeing an opportunity. If I had a close fight with someone and I thought I beat them and I have the opportunity to prove I’m better, I’m taking the fight. I know circumstances are different, but when I took the fight against Evloev, it was the same thing.”

Lopes does think Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) ended up biting a bit more than he could chew in taking the rematch against Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) on short notice. However, he does stand by it not being a mistake, as the reward was too big to pass up. Either way, Lopes has tremendous respect for Volakanovski for daring to be great.

“I think there’s always receipts,” Lopes said. “I could be wrong here, but people always say that age is just a number, and I somewhat agree with that, but you have to keep in mind that Volka has been doing this sport for a long time and when you get to a certain age you start declining a bit.

“All respect to him for taking the fight on 10 days’ notice. He wasn’t prepared for this fight. But yeah, it was surprising to see how Makhachev finished him. I think we all expected Makhachev to wrestle him all the fight.”

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