Volkanovski wants Topuria rematch for lightweight title if Gaethje retires

Alexander Volkanovski wants to fight Ilia Topuria for the lightweight title if champion Justin Gaethje retires. He says he would retire after that fight, win or lose. The comments came from a media scrum after UFC 333 and were reported on Monday, October 26, by BJPenn.com and MMA Mania. It is a callout, not a booking: Gaethje has not retired, and neither the UFC, Topuria nor Gaethje has responded.

"Lightweight title? That would be great to get that win back as well," Volkanovski said, according to BJPenn.com. MMA Mania reports he was speaking to Brendan Bradford. BJPenn.com's transcript has him adding:

"Maybe I could fight [Topuria] and win, lose, or draw; I'd retire so I wouldn't hold the division up."

MMA Mania's transcript of the same clip is worded differently, but both outlets report the same promise to retire win, lose or draw.

Topuria is the fallback. Volkanovski's first choice is still a superfight with Gaethje, which he pitched before UFC 333. "Let's do a superfight with the lightweight title on the line," he said on a podcast, as reported by ESPN on October 15. After Saturday's win he repeated it at the post-fight press conference: "If they ever wanted to give me that opportunity, I would retire win or lose," as reported by Uncrowned.

The win he wants back

Topuria took Volkanovski's featherweight title at UFC 298 in Anaheim on February 17, 2024. He knocked him out at 3:32 of round 2, according to Wikipedia. There was never a rematch: Topuria defended once, knocking out Max Holloway at UFC 308, then vacated the belt in 2025 to move up. Volkanovski won it back against Diego Lopes at UFC 314.

Topuria took the vacant lightweight title with a first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June 2025. He lost it to Gaethje on the White House South Lawn at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, 2026. His corner stopped it after round 4. It was his first pro loss, and he is now 17-1.

Gaethje was a big underdog. He closed at +350, about a 21% chance, with Topuria at −478, about 79%, according to our Gaethje and Topuria pages. Topuria has since said he has been cleared to return, according to MMA Junkie, and that he wants to fight for the lightweight title again.

Volkanovski, 38, is 29-4 and has won three straight since the Topuria loss. On Saturday he stopped Evloev at 4:54 of round 2 in Abu Dhabi, per UFC.com, and became the first man to beat him. Uncrowned counts it as his ninth win in a UFC featherweight title fight, a division record ahead of José Aldo. The closing line had it close to a coin flip: he was −112, about 50%.

He has tried lightweight before. In 2023 he challenged Islam Makhachev for the 155-pound title twice, losing a decision and then by first-round knockout.

What has to happen first

Everything depends on Gaethje. He is 37, 28-5 and on a three-fight win streak, and he has talked about being near the end of his career. On the MightyCast podcast in September he said, "I know for a fact I won't fight again this year," according to MMA Sucka. After the Topuria win he said on Joe Rogan's podcast, "There's not something natural in me that feels like it's over," as Newsweek reported.

Dana White spoke at the UFC 333 press conference, before the Topuria comments surfaced, and made no promises. "There's not much we're going to say no to with him," he said of Volkanovski, adding, "we'll see how this whole thing plays out."

We think the Topuria idea has a precedent, but it needs two things to happen first. In May 2025 the UFC booked Topuria, fresh from featherweight, against Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title, as Al Jazeera reported. This time Gaethje would have to retire, and the UFC would have to pass over Arman Tsarukyan. Gaethje has said he expects Tsarukyan to be his next challenger, according to ESPN.

Volkanovski hasn't said whether he would give up the featherweight title before moving up.