UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski wants another crack at the lightweight title before retiring.
Volkanovski delivered one of the best performances of his career at UFC 333 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, finishing the previously undefeated Movsar Evloev by second-round TKO.
Afterward, he expressed interest in a double-retirement fight against 155-pound champion Justin Gaethje.
"That's something I would retire for," Volkanovski, 38, said at the postfight press conference. "If they wanted to give me that opportunity, I would retire. Win or lose, retire."
Volkanovski has moved up in weight twice to challenge for the lightweight title and try to become a two-division champion. He lost to Islam Makhachev by unanimous decision at UFC 284 in February 2023, then suffered a first-round knockout defeat to Makhachev in a short-notice rematch eight months later.
Gaethje claimed the lightweight belt in June with a stunning upset of Ilia Topuria at the White House. The 37-year-old flirted with retirement after the fight and has yet to commit to returning to the Octagon.
Though Volkanovski wants to fight Gaethje, he's also mindful not to hold up two divisions.
"I'm an honest guy and want it to be fair," Volkanovski said. "A lot of times, I'm like, 'I don't want to hold divisions up.' But I believe that we could do this and not hold the division up. ... A little bit of a superfight, 38-year-olds just going at it. And then we'll leave it all and let all the young fellas sort themselves out."
Volkanovski added: "If I win it and I vacate, then you got everyone else fighting anyway. That's something I would retire for. Otherwise, I'm just taking each fight as it goes."
When asked about a potential Gaethje-Volkanovski matchup, UFC CEO Dana White seemed open to the idea.
"I think when you've accomplished what (Volkanovski)'s accomplished, there's not much we're gonna say no to with him," White said. "We'll see how this whole thing plays out."
