{"id":38938,"date":"2026-06-22T15:21:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Alexander-Volkanovski-open-to-challenging-Justin-Gaethje-at-lightweight-201605"},"modified":"2026-06-22T15:21:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:21:37","slug":"alexander-volkanovski-open-to-challenging-justin-gaethje-at-lightweight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/alexander-volkanovski-open-to-challenging-justin-gaethje-at-lightweight\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Volkanovski open to challenging Justin Gaethje at lightweight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Alexander
\nVolkanovski<\/a> is not ruling out a double-champ bid for the third
\ntime in his
\nUFC<\/a> career.<\/p>\n

Justin
\nGaethje<\/a> (28-5) recently dethroned Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a> in a massive upset to win the undisputed lightweight in
\nhis third attempt. Volkanovski (28-4) admits that he is open to
\nmoving up to lightweight to challenge Gaethje for the title.
\nHowever, the UFC featherweight champion is not sure if he is
\ncurrently in a position to call for a lightweight title shot.
\nVolkanovski notes that he had defended the featherweight title four
\ntimes in his first stint before calling for a lightweight title
\nshot against Islam
\nMakhachev<\/a>. Volkanovski also admits that Arman
\nTsarukyan<\/a> should ideally get the next title shot at
\nlightweight. However, \u201cThe Great\u201d also notes that Tsarukyan has not
\nexactly been a company man.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018I\u2019m Not Going to Call for It\u2019<\/h2>\n

\u201cOf course, I’ll do it,\u201d Volkanovski said on YouTube. \u201cI’m going to
\ncall it when I I feel like I deserve it, and you’ve seen when I was
\ndefending my belt five times before I asked for the double champ,
\nand then had the fight with Islam. Like that’s just how it is\u2026 So,
\nI’m not going to call for it. That’s the type of champion I am. I
\nthink you need to earn it. But if the UFC was to offer it, of
\ncourse, see two 38-year-old fellas go at it in the lightweight
\ndivision? 100%. Of course I would. But, Arman should be next. But
\nwhen you’re not doing what the the UFC wants and you’re not, you
\nknow, being a company man, you can be punished for it. So we’ll see
\nwhat happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volkanovski gave Makhachev one of the toughest tests of his career
\nwhile making his first unsuccessful double-champ bid in 2023. The
\nAustralian subsequently defended his featherweight title one more
\ntime before making another short-notice double-champ bid against
\nMakhachev, who violently knocked him out in the rematch.
\nVolkanovski then went on to lose the title against Topuria, who
\nmoved up after defending it once. Volkanovski has since won the
\nvacant title against Diego Lopes<\/a>
\nand defended it in a rematch against Lopes. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Tsarukyan has been sidelined from the lightweight title
\npicture since pulling out of a title challenge against Makhachev
\nlast year. \u201cAhalkalakets\u201d was supposed to weigh in as the backup
\nfighter for the title fight between Topuria and Gaethje at
\nUFC White House<\/a> earlier this month. However, finding both
\nTopuria and Gaethje healthy, Tsarukyan chose to compete in a
\nwrestling match against Tony
\nFerguson<\/a> instead of weighing in as the backup fighter for the
\nmain event at the White House. <\/p>\n