Joe Rogan was shocked to not see Alexander Volkanovski exit the Octagon with a second UFC title three years ago.
The featherweight champion is ready to return within the UFC 325 foremost event this Saturday, as the house favorite makes the walk in Sydney for the primary defense of his second reign at 145 kilos.
Volkanovski will fight Diego Lopes again, having defeated the Brazilian just 10 months ago in a Miami clash that temporarily paused talk of the 37-year-old legend hanging up his gloves.
The Australian is widely thought to be the best featherweight of all time and boasts an illustrious MMA résumé. But despite all he has achieved, Volkanovski is missing one accolade often related to the highest legends of the game: a second divisional title.
Within the eyes of Rogan, nonetheless, the Australian unfairly had that taken from him…
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What’s Alexander Volkanovski’s best profession win?
Comment below what you suspect is the very best we have seen from ‘The Great’.
Joe Rogan insisted that Alexander Volkanovski beat Islam Makhachev at UFC 284
Volkanovski earned his likelihood to hitch the club of two-division UFC champions after 4 successful featherweight title defenses.
His opportunity got here on home soil, with the Aussie difficult then-newly crowned lightweight king Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 in Perth at the beginning of 2023.
The pair collided in probably the greatest fights of that yr, with their enthralling contest going the complete five rounds. Makhachev beat Volkanovski via unanimous decision, a verdict that split opinion within the MMA community.
Amongst those that strongly disagreed was Joe Rogan, who was shocked when the result was read out.
“He (Makhachev) lost that fight, I imagine,” the UFC color commentator said during a Fight Companion episode of his podcast alongside Brendan Schaub, Eddie Bravo, and Bryan Callen.
“We were convinced, we may need to (re)watch it. I don’t think we were biased.
“In my eyes, I assumed it was 3-2 (to Volkanovski),” he continued. “Oh my god, this sucks.
“Take heed to the group. Certainly one of those scorecards was crazy. It’s hard — we’re watching it, we’re not scoring it legitimately. We’re talking s— and we’re drinking, but it surely seems to me he won three rounds.”
Rogan was not alone together with his scoring of that fight. Nate Diaz also said Volkanovski beat Makhachev, joining some fans in sharing that assessment of the UFC 284 super-fight.
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Alexander Volkanovski’s path to a 3rd lightweight title shot after UFC 325
After Volkanovski’s second loss to Makhachev at UFC 294, many wrote off the Aussie’s possibilities of achieving two-division glory within the promotion.
But ahead of his rematch with Lopes at UFC 325, Volkanovski outlined a path to a different lightweight shot.
“Being a champion is a responsibility and I take that seriously,” Volkanovski stated during a December interview with 10 News.
“I do know I’ve got guys in my division and I don’t wish to delay the division, so I’m gonna do what I want to do after which, you never know. Possibly after what I’ve said I plan on doing in Sydney, February 1, go try this after which perhaps have the turnaround after which get one other victory over an undefeated guy.
“I feel that’s fair enough to be calling for perhaps a champ-champ fight then,” he added.
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