Steve
Garcia thinks Alexander
Volkanovski is no longer the same fighter that he used to
be.
Garcia is scheduled to fight Diego Lopes
at
UFC White House on June 14. Garcia wants to call for a title
shot against Volkanovski if he gets past Lopes. Garcia believes
Volkanovski should ideally retire now. However, if Volkanovski
doesn’t retire, “Mean Machine” vows to make the 37-year-old hang up
his gloves if they meet inside the Octagon. While Garcia isn’t
looking past Lopes, he sees chinks in Volkanovski’s armor now.
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Championship Dreams
“I’m calling for that strap,” Garcia said on the “Smash Cast” podcast. “Give me that strap,
that’s what I want. Honestly, I feel like Volk should retire.
Because if he doesn’t, I’m gonna retire him… But again, I got a
huge tall task ahead of me. I’m not gonna look past Diego
Lopes, that would be stupid to do it. But in my head every time
I see Volk, I’m like, ah, he’s not the Volk of old. And there’s
ways to beat this guy. And I think if I can get to him I can do
it.”
Known for his unusual knockout power at featherweight, Garcia
(27-8) is on a seven-fight winning streak with six finishes.
Meanwhile, Lopes (19-5) has sandwiched a win over Jean Silva
between two title losses against Volkanovski in his last three
bouts.
Volkanovski (28-4) defended the featherweight title five times in
his first run before falling to Ilia
Topuria in 2024. The Australian won the vacant title against
Lopes after Topuria moved up to lightweight. Volkanovski most
recently defended his title in a rematch against Lopes at
UFC 325 this past January.