By FCF Staff

Alexander Volkanovski admits he took more punishment than he expected in his memorable bout with Diego Lopes at UFC 314. But, the legendary featherweight is eager to get back in the cage for his next title defense.

Volkanovski faced Lopes for the vacant featherweight title in the card’s headliner, and outstruck the contender en route to a unanimous decision win. Lopes did bruise and bloody the now two-time champ, and also knocked Volkanovski down in the second frame.

Following Yair Rodriguez’s win over Patricio “Pitbull” Freire on the main card, he called for a title shot to take place in September. It remains to be seen who will challenge Volkanovski next. But, while discussing a timeframe for his next fight with the media, the Australian star reported he wants to fight in the summer (quotes via MMA Fighting.com).

“I mean, if everything’s good, I’d probably like to go soon,” Volkanovski said. “Quicker than that, to be honest. That’s probably the second fight. So maybe it can be, if I’m good, maybe I get the fight, maybe July or September. Yeah, we can maybe fit in. Movsar [Evloev], if they want to do that, if they want to quickly go and I feel good, maybe quick turnaround with Movsar if I don’t have busted hands. We’ll see. Like I said, that was my plan. Bang, bang, bang. But I didn’t expect to get hit this much. Credit to f*cking Diego.

“I’ve got to look at a few things,” he added. “I’ll get X-rays, I’ll have a look straight away. If everything’s all good, cuts will heal pretty quick. Give me a couple of weeks and I’ll be back at it. I’ll still be doing stuff even when I get back home. Like said, I’m a professional, I’m disciplined. I’ll keep working. I’ll talk to the UFC and we’ll see what happens.”

The 36-year-old Volkanovski (27-4) was coming off a knockout loss to Ilia Topuria in February, 2024, which ended his first run as the featherweight champ.