'The Great' seems to start his second reign as the featherweight champion in Miami on 12 April.
Alexander Volkanovski already has plans to regularly compete as the 145 pound title holder after his return to UFC 314, where he is fighting for the vacant title.
To do that, however, he will have to overcome the incredibly self-assured Diego Lopes that has compiled a five-fighter win in the Octagon.
The big question is whether Volkanovski can reclaim his championship form after back-to-back knockout losing in his last outings.
At the age of 36 he will also have to overcome a worrying statistics that points to hunters who have previously had the top who are struggling to get back on the right track.
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Alexander Volkanovski stands for a tough stat for former UFC champions in 2025
Alexander Volkanovski is certainly the most difficult test of the career of Diego Lopes so far, but this is also not the same version of the former champion who went for a decade without losing.
'The Great' has been to the top and it is a remarkable achievement that he could stay there for so long, but his next opponent will hope that it is now his time to replace the old guard.
Over the 11 UFC events that have taken place this year, 8 former champions have entered the Octagon.
The first two were when Jiri Prochazka was confronted with Jamahal Hill on UFC 311 with the last last weekend where Brandon Moreno led the map in Mexico City.
Of those 8, only 2 came at the top with both victors who are already mentioned, Procazka and Moreno.
The others are all defeated and although they are not all due to a change in the guard, the losses have still had a major impact on their departments.
Jamahal Hill, Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, Henry Cejudo, Leon Edwards and Jan Bachowicz have all come short, while Alex Pereira does not take this list into account because he, although he is a former UFC middleweight champion, the light champion heavyweight champion at UFC 313.
Against an opponent who is 6 years younger than he, Volkanovski will try to bring the census of the former champions to the Kaseya Center on 12 April.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Alexander Volkanovski has admitted some doubts in the past
After his loss against Ilia Topuria on UFC 298, Alexander Volkanovski chose to take some serious free time that was long too late for the Fans' favorite.
He openly spoke in an interview with ESPN MMA as soon as this fight had been officially worn about how he was worried about it needed to need some time to get his confidence back after he stepped back into the gym.
Volkanovski remained convinced that when the time were to come, he could turn that transfer again and immediately come back to where he was and he now is sure that his preparations have done exactly.
“There were questions: Can I turn the switch? Will I be the same man as soon as I turn that switch?” Said Volkanovski. “We found out early because we started camping that we would do. We are now kicking in the gym. The weight is ahead of schedule and we still have enough time.”
We will find out at UFC 314 or 'The Great' can add more chapters to his historical career by becoming a two -time champion.
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