“I’m happy to do it” – Alexander Volkanovski unfazed by Charles Oliveira’s ambitious dual title fight callout
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Charles Oliveira (L) and Alexander Volkanovski (R)
UFC 280 takes place in a matter of two days from now. Multiple storylines have emerged in its buildup – some that will work themselves out on the 22nd, and some that will follow in the coming months.
One such story is that of Alexander Volkanovski’s double-champion ambition. Volkanovski is already the king of the 145-pound division, and he looks to capture the 155-pound belt as well, in the near future. While he is the back up for the main event, in case either Islam Makhachev or Charles Oliveira pull out – it is a little unlikely that his plan will come to fruition.
However, that is not to say that he will not fight for the belt. Dana White has himself come out and confirmed that it is likely that the Australian fights for the lightweight title next. That is to say, the winner of Makhachev vs Oliveira will face off against Volkanovski next year.
One half of the main event, Charles Oliveira dished on the developments and challenged Volkanovski to a dual-title showdown – once each for the lightweight and featherweight belts, in Brazil and Australia. To clarify, UFC 283 will be held in Brazil and UFC 284 will take place in Australia, in January and February 2023, respectively.
Now, Alexander Volkanovski has responded to the frankly overzealous callout by Oliveira. He said, “If anyone could do it, it’s me. Let’s do it… If they (The UFC) are happy to do it, then I’m happy to do it, simple as that.”
He continued, “Seems like my next fight is definitely for the lightweight title. You know I put myself in this position, let’s see what happens.”
An epic title showdown could take place between Alexander Volkanovski and Charles Oliveira in either of their home countries
A lot of things must fall in place if Charles Oliveira’s enthusiastic callout of Alexander Volkanovski is to materialize. Despite the highly improbable nature of both the featherweight and the lightweight titles being contested within a month of each other, at least the lightweight title fight could be booked by the UFC.
If things do work out in his favour, we could see Oliveira take on Alexander Volkanovski in Brazil. UFC 283 has been finalized to take at Jeunesse Arena in Sau Paulo, Brazil. The card is scheduled to be in January next year. Although, it’ll be an extremely tight schedule, Charles Oliveira will still have just enough time to go through a full fight camp after his UFC 28o fight.
And, if that seems too much hard work for the No.1 lightweight contender, the next PPV could also serve as a good event to host the title fight. UFC 284 will take place in Australia, returning down under for the first time in more than three years.
However, that talk is all moot until Charles Oliveira is able to beat Islam Makhachev and finally claim the vacant lightweight belt. Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski will be ready for the Brazilian when the time comes, and even Makhachev, if that is how things pan out.
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Udayan Mukherjee
(382 Articles Published)