Alexander Volkanovski plans to regain his status as an active champion now that the featherweight gold is back to his means.
After he had won the belt back on UFC 314 last month, 'The Great' made it clear that he wanted to fight again soon with a clear opponent in mind.
The wish of Volkanovski was not given with Movsar Evloev in a different direction, which led many to the assumption that the champion will be booked instead in a rematch for his next outing.
On the same night that a new champion of 145 pounds was crowned, Yair Rodriguez booked an almost perfect victory over Patricio Pitbull to bounce back from successive losses.
The only problem with this potential title fight is that it was not so long ago that Volkanovski defeated Rodriguez convincingly, which means that a rematch is not high on the wish lists of many people.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Robert Whittaker claims that 'no one wants to see' Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez 2
During a recent episode of the MMarcade Podcast, Robert Whittaker gave his reaction to Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez 2 who seemed to be the direction in which the UFC is on its way.
The promotion is to organize his third episode of NOCHE UFC in September, although the plans to host the event in Arena Guadalajara can be set to change on 13 September.
Although it would be logical for Rodriguez to be part of this card as one of the largest Mexican stars on the Roster, that does not mean that 'The Reaper' can be seen again with him fighting for the title.
Like many fans, the former UFC champion middleweight is not too interested in seeing this decline because he does not believe that enough time has passed for a mandatory matter for a rematch.
Whittaker is also not convinced that Rodriguez made the necessary adjustments of the first fight, with 1-1 since his first meeting with Volkanovski on UFC 290 in July 2023.
'Mate, nobody wants to see this fight. Nobody. Nobody was thinking at home: 'Hey, do you know which fight I want to run back? People and yair '. Not yet because people did a good fair job in that first fight, okay, and I thought Yair had a lot to work on that fight.
“I think a lot of it was mental, but that's how I walked away from that fight. I thought that fight was very one -sided and I thought he had things to work on.”
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Instead, Robert Whittaker wants to see that Yair Rodriguez is confronted against Diego Lopes
Robert Whittaker also shares the common opinion that there is a better fight for Yair Rodriguez who should happen afterwards.
During the UFC 314 press conference, the tensions between Rodriguez and Diego Lopes flared with the two men who clearly cherish resentment to settle with each other.
In view of the fact that Lopes is short when he fights for the empty title, it is a matchup that makes sense for both men and apparently would be a perfect fit for the Noche UFC card (UFC 320).
“Now there was a storyline that whole fighting week with him and Diego,” said Whittaker. “I wanted that fight to happen. Tell me that fight could not have had UFC Mexico.”