We’re just days away from UFC 314 fight week in Miami, and that features the return of Alexander Volkanovski after a 14 month break.
That’s a long time for a fighter that got three championship fights in for 2023 and 2022. But the wheels came off for the Australian former featherweight champion when he accepted a last-minute rematch against Islam Makhachev in October 2023 and then went through with a title defense against Ilia Topuria four months later.
The result: knockout losses in both fights. Now Volk has a chance to reestablish himself at the top of the division against Diego Lopes for the vacant 145 pound strap, and teammate Dan Hooker can’t wait to witness it in person.
Dan Hooker believes Volkanovski lost due to a quick turnaround from the Islam fight, not because Ilia is incredible
“I feel like Volkanovski just turned around too quickly from the Islam Makhachev fight. I don’t think Ilia Topuria did anything that incredible—I feel like he… pic.twitter.com/qMeC5dqCrx
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) April 3, 2025
“Yeah, I’m going over,” Hooker told Sky Sports NZ. “I’m pretty sure Israel’s going over, and we’ll just head over and obviously support Alexander Volkanovski What is it? 10 consecutive title fights in a row. Tough young competitor against Lopes. It’s gonna be one heck of a fight, and I can’t wait to be sitting cage slide and just soaking it up.”
“To get back after these two hard fights, the toughest time in his career, and to not only get through that, but to be on the other side of it and to be able to raise that title again and and prove that he’s still the man and and still the champ? I can’t wait to be there.”
Hooker truly believes that Volkanovski wouldn’t have even lost the belt if he hadn’t stepped in against Topuria at UFC 298 so soon after suffering a headkick KO loss to Makhachev.
“I feel like he just turned too quickly around from the Islam Makhachev fight,” he said. “I don’t think Ilia Topuria did anything that incredible. I feel like he just fought [too soon], and I’ve been there. When I fought Paul Felder and then I fought Dustin Poirier kinda back-to-back and then rushed into the Michael Chandler fight. It’s not like Michael Chandler did anything that was incredible.”
“You need to learn that as a veteran fighter,” Hooker continued. “And there’s only one way to learn it, and that’s the hard way. The body can only take so much punishment before it needs time to fully recoup. Especially if you’re fighting these five round fights, you need to be putting a good amount of stretch. And it takes longer to recover from a five round fight. Especially what Volkanovski has been going through, five round championship training camps, and just putting them so consistently.”
“He has been one of the most consistent champions for the UFC, stepping up to the plate, fighting, jumping in on short notice. Like, he just needed a bit more time between these fights to let his body fully recover.”
Has Volkanovski really learned his lesson, though? Leading up to UFC 314, “The Great” has declared he’d beat Lopes then clean out the featherweight contender waiting list by the end of 2025. That includes Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Movsar Evloev, no easy fights.
First he’ll have to get past Lopes, which could be tough as well. Statistics say fighters over the age of 35 are 2-30 in title fights below middleweight. Can the 36 year old Volkanovski beat the odds? We’ll find out April 12th in Miami, Florida.
