Volkanovski would vacate featherweight title to fight Tsarukyan if Gaethje retires

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski says he would give up his belt and fight Arman Tsarukyan for the vacant lightweight title if Justin Gaethje retires. He said it in an interview with Ariel Helwani, in a clip posted on X by Home of Fight on Wednesday, October 28.

The offer depends on one thing: Gaethje, the lightweight champion, stepping away. He hasn't said whether he will fight again, and the UFC hasn't announced anything for any of the three men.

What Volkanovski said

Volkanovski's first choice is still a fight with Gaethje himself. But he told Helwani the Tsarukyan option is growing on him, according to a transcription by Heavy.

"I'll vacate the featherweight belt and fight Arman for the title."

He added that he's "starting to get more excited about that fight than the Gaethje fight." He also said: "You ain't holding me down—I'm getting back up and we're standing and fighting."

It isn't a new idea. At the UFC 333 post-fight press conference, he was asked whether he'd fight Tsarukyan for a vacant title. "Of course, yeah. 100%. Definitely," he answered, as reported by SB Nation. In the same session he said he'd retire after a Gaethje fight, "win or lose", so he wouldn't hold the division up.

Tsarukyan was asked before UFC 333 whether he'd fight Volkanovski, and said yes. "Yeah, I would fight him," he told Helen Yee Sports before his RAF 14 wrestling match with Dillon Danis, according to SB Nation. "I think it's a good fight for me, stylistically. He's old. Bad chin."

Where things stand

Volkanovski (29-4) retained his title on Saturday, October 24, at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. He stopped the previously unbeaten Movsar Evloev at 4:54 of the second round. Volkanovski closed at −112 (50%), close to a coin flip. It was his third straight win since losing the title to Ilia Topuria in 2024.

He is 0-2 at 155 pounds, both against Islam Makhachev. He lost a decision in February 2023, then was knocked out by a head kick at UFC 294 in October 2023. He closed +205 for the second one. It is the only underdog price on our record of his UFC fights, which has no closing odds for the first Makhachev fight or the Topuria loss.

Tsarukyan (24-3) has won six straight in the UFC. His latest was a first-round elbow knockout of Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 on September 19. Afterwards he said, "For my next fight, for the title fight, I needed that finish," per Cageside Press. He has been favoured in all 10 of his priced UFC fights and won nine, closing −315 against Ruffy.

Gaethje won the lightweight title on June 14 at UFC Freedom 250, when Topuria didn't come out for round five. He went off at +350 that night, his second straight title-fight win as an underdog. In a MightyCast interview reported by BJPenn.com in September, he said, "I know for a fact I won't fight again this year." He added that he hadn't decided beyond that.

What comes next

Tsarukyan says the UFC told him he would hear about Gaethje's plans "at the end of November." That is his account; the UFC hasn't confirmed a timeline. Dana White said after UFC 333 that there's "not much we're gonna say no to" with Volkanovski, but he hasn't addressed a Tsarukyan fight.

We think Tsarukyan has the strongest claim to a vacant lightweight title. He has won six straight and hasn't had a title shot since an injury forced him out of UFC 311 in January 2025.

There is a recent model for Volkanovski's move. Topuria gave up the featherweight title and won the vacant lightweight belt by knocking out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June 2025. Tsarukyan was the backup for that fight.