Alexander Volkanovski shuts down Diego Lopes fight rumors: ‘There’s no talks to that at all’

Alexander Volkanovski is focused on Ilia Topuria and attempting to regain the UFC featherweight title, and nothing more

“We don’t know exactly what is going on yet,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “Obviously we’re fighting for the title. When is that going to be? That’s sort of a question, so let’s see if we can get a stadium in Spain. Obviously, that’s an option.

“Could Sydney still be an option? If so, I’m going to stay fit, making sure [of that], because I’ll be getting close to camp now anyway if we do make Sydney. ... We’ll see what happens, but nothing locked in yet.”

Volkanovski lost the title to Topuria via second-round knockout at UFC 298 in February. “The Great” hasn’t competed since, but Topuria successfully defended his belt, becoming the first fighter ever to knock out Max Holloway at UFC 308 in October. Topuria and Volkanovski would have a faceoff in the octagon after that, setting up a likely rematch.

Since then, a report circulated that Volkanovski was targeted to face surging contender Diego Lopes at UFC 312 in February. That same day, multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans told MMA Fighting there was no truth to agreements being in place, with one person saying the fight hadn’t even been mentioned as an option by the UFC.

Volkanovski went on to confirm the same thing, and remains steadfast that his next fight will only be for a world title.

“I don’t know where that sort of [came] from.” Volkanovski said. “I think the fact that he’s obviously said, ‘Let’s do it in Sydney,’ I think people just ran with that. There’s no talks to that at all.

“You never know, right? But, yeah, obviously we’re going to fight for the title so that’s where we’re mainly going to focus, but we’ll see what happens. There is definitely nothing locked in.”