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UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski poses with his UFC belt on July 28, 2020 in Sydney, Australia.
The long-awaited fight between second-place featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega is finally going to go down at UFC 266, and should Volkanovski come out on top it will add another reason why he is considered a 145-pound GOAT can be viewed.
Volkanovski has a professional MMA record of 22-1 with 11 wins by KO / TKO, and the Australian has never been defeated at the Octagon. In fact, the champion is in a winning streak of 19 fights spanning all nine of his UFC games.
UFC 266 will take place on September 25th at 10pm CET. Eastern Time at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It airs as pay-per-view on ESPN.
He has an impressive mantelpiece and holds victories over the two men usually featured in the featherweight GOAT conversation, former 145-pound UFC champions Max Holloway and Jose Aldo.
Volkanovski won the featherweight belt in December 2019 by defeating Holloway by unanimous decision at UFC 245, and in July 2020 he was raised again above « Blessed », then by controversial split decision at UFC 251. < To win a title bout against Blessed, Volkanovski went through longtime featherweight king Aldo and unanimously defeated him at UFC 237 in May 2019.
And when Volkanovski knocks out Ortega, who has an impressive professional MMA record of 15- 1, he will take another step towards the GOAT award.
Volkanovski, Holloway and Aldo are undoubtedly at the top of the list of feather-light GOAT talks. Aldo (30-7) was the first 145 pound UFC champion when he received the belt after the UFC took over the WEC in 2010, where Aldo held the title.
Aldo has defended the UFC belt seven times against the best the division had to offer, beating players like former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and mighty wrestler and puncher Chad Mendes twice. Aldo lost the 145 pound belt in his eighth defense, dropping it to Conor McGregor.
However, Aldo rebounded at UFC 200 in July 2016 and won the interim belt by defeating Edgar again and was later due to McGregor’s inactivity in the division promoted it to the undisputed champion.
Holloway (22-6) would end up winning Aldo’s belt in the first defense of the Brazilian of his new title run and then beating him again in an instant rematch and both fights by TKO in win the third round. Blessed defended the belt twice, defeating Ortega and Edgar before losing it to Volkanovski.
Unlike Aldo, Holloway is still featherweight and recently recovered from his second loss to Volkanovski when he met in January 2021 Calvin Kattar struck.
An Honorable Mention in the GOAT conversation is McGregor. Despite having had tough times in the UFC lately, losing three of his last four fights, the Irishman began his UFC career unbeaten as a 145-pounder. Like Volkanovski, « Notorious » holds victories over both Holloway and Aldo and defeated them by unanimous decision or knockout in the first round.
After he had finished Aldo, Notorious moved up a weight class and has not been featherweight since then .
In a recent interview with James Lynch, Volkanovski shared his thoughts on fighting Holloway in a trilogy fight. In order for Volkanovski to really win the GOAT title, he will likely have to defeat Blessed again, especially since his split-decision win over Holloway in the second fight was highly controversial by fans and analysts alike.
The Australian who is not at Ortega stop by said that if he hits Blessed again at the Octagon, he’ll take a third win over Holloway, as Volkanovski « will be a whole different beast » compared to their last two fights.
The last fight, the we played on Fight Island no apologies, but I think I didn’t show up at all and still got the job done. That just shows what level (I am) at and again you have to give credit because the way he performed from the first to the second fight was amazing. But so I could bring that fight back, I didn’t crank that day and I got the job done anyway. This just shows you that there are levels and that I’m not kidding. I’ll crank up the next fight 100 percent and not give it rounds like the first fight. I start stronger and finish stronger. But again, Max is a great fighter, which is why he gets a third fight. He goes out and picks up other guys and deserves first place because he also deserves to be at the top. So again, you have to give credit wherever there is credit. It’s going to be a great fight, but I think I’ll be too much. Until then, I’ll be a completely different animal.
GettyBrian Ortega celebrates his victory over Frankie Edgar after her featherweight fight at UFC 222 on March 3, 2018.
Volkanovski is very confident about the UFC Main Event 266 against Ortega. During the media day this week, Volkanovski said the reason for his great success in MMA was the « hard work » he put into the sport. And according to the Australian, « T-City » wasn’t in the gym as much as he.
« I’m not a sporty person, you know what I mean? » Volkanovski told MMA Junkie. « I am challenged on high, do you understand what I mean? What, you name it. I was obviously heavy, whatever. But you know, it was just through hard work and bruising my ass, I got to where I am and I’m living proof that anyone can do or do what they want.
» Hard work gets you where I am. Talent only gets you so far, and he’s unprofessional. He doesn’t do what I do. I guarantee you he didn’t deserve this belt. He doesn’t take it from me. «
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