Why UFC 325 is a collision between Alex Volkanovski’s glorious past and uncertain future

It took less than five minutes for a question about his retirement to arrive, but Alex Volkanovski must have known it was coming.

Ahead of his UFC 325 rematch with Brazil’s Diego Lopes in Sydney this Sunday, every interview, sooner or later, rounds back to the UFC featherweight champion’s future or, given he is 37 in a sport where the young feast on the old, what might be left of it.

This press conference on Wednesday was no exception, and Volkanovski gave the same answer as ever — he knows the end is close, and that one day soon the gloves will come off for the last time and the rest of forever will start, but he is not rushing towards that day.

“I plan on taking minimal damage out there, have a quick turnaround and we’ll see what happens after that,” Volkanovski said.

“There’s been a lot of people say that this would be my last fight, and I put that to bed. I’ve still got a bit left in me.”

As Volkanovski prepares for his first-ever title defence on home soil, a sense that the mists of time are swirling around Australia’s greatest ever MMA fighter is unmistakable. The present has become a look into his past as we consider his future.

It started with the reaction to the main event itself. Most of the fighters Volkanovski faced in his seven featherweight title bouts are gone, having either retired or left the division, making the Australian one of the last men standing from his era.

He is from another age, but even then, there is no shortage of fresh blood, all of whom — the hard-hitting Lopes included — totally revere him.

But a rematch between the two, less than a year after Volkanovski’s decisive victory in Miami, has not been well received by fans — not when 19-0 Russian Movsar Evloev and crackerjack Englishman Lerone Murphy, who is also undefeated as a pro, were waiting in the wings, each promising a fresh and compelling match-up.

The first fight against Lopes was Volkanovski’s great revival after back-to-back knockout defeats and as stirring a triumph as he’s had since he first won UFC gold back in 2019, but it also served as a reminder of his career’s fragility and the shadows that loom.

At this point, Volkanovski fights are a limited resource. To use such a precious thing on a rematch few were demanding has not proven popular.

The fans know the end of the day is drawing near, as does Volkanovski himself. Should he beat Lopes, he wants to tee up his next fight as soon as possible because he knows the time is short, and with Evloev and Murphy fighting one another in March, his next step appears clear.

“That’s why I want to be active, because how much longer can I be? I want to take minimal damage, then mid-year sounds pretty good to me,” Volkanovski said.

“You have Movsar [Evloev] and Murphy fighting, and that makes the most sense with their records and resumes. Legacy-wise [for me], that would be perfect.”

Just as he is constantly reminded of his own fighting mortality, the card is dotted with reminders of Volkanovski’s past and the vast spaces between then and now.

For example, Volkanovski’s last fight in Sydney came back in 2017, when a young heavyweight named Tai Tuivasa made his UFC debut on the same card as a baby-faced wrecking machine.

Nine years later, they’ll share the light again, and Tuivasa, who became one of Australian MMA’s top stars as he belted his way to a title eliminator once upon a time, is battling for his fighting life against Brazil’s Tallison Teixeira on the back of five straight losses.

His sheer presence — even after his losing streak, Tuivasa is still ranked at heavyweight and is the second-biggest Australian star on the card outside of Volkanovski himself — adds to the feeling that the end of an era of Australian MMA is on the horizon at UFC 325.

The game is changing, there can be no doubt about that, and Volkanovski is only part of a generation’s long goodbye.

Tyson Pedro, who came up alongside Tuivasa, left the UFC almost two years ago. If Tuivasa goes down again, retirement may well be thrust upon him. Robert Whittaker, the nation’s first champion, is at a crossroads after back-to-back losses and has been talking about seeing the end of himself as a fighter.

Australian MMA will not fall off a cliff as these names depart the sport. There is still an abundance of talent, both established and rising.

Recent welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena, the standard bearer for the next age, is not yet 30, and the country could have another star on its hands in lightweight Quillan Salkilld, who will be after a fourth-straight UFC win when he faces fellow Aussie Jamie Mullarkey on Sunday.

But we are not in that great beyond just yet. The sun is getting low, but it has not set on Volkanovski, and while talk around his future is warranted, somewhere in between the forest has been overlooked for the age of the trees.

Volkanovski is not just Australia’s greatest ever MMA fighter — you can make the case, and plenty will, that he’s the best featherweight the sport has ever seen anywhere in the world.

But his finest hours — the win against Jose Aldo, the trilogy of victories against Max Holloway, the resurrection he experienced against Brian Ortega and the subsequent retribution he inflicted — all happened far from these shores.

His only fight in Australia since he became champion was his epic 2023 bout with Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in Perth. Volkanovski produced one of the best performances of his career, but came up on the short end of the decision.

For all the past glories Volkanovski carries with him, he has never had an arena filled with his own people roar with triumph as UFC gold was wrapped around his waist.

He has never felt their love as he left the Octagon as the best in the world with a heart filled with triumph and a defeated enemy at his back.

Depending on whether the UFC renews its current deal with Events NSW, this might be his only chance at it, the only time he gets to feel it and the only opportunity to fill the last empty space in his career.

He has been a king for a long time, but never in his own kingdom. He was crowned in distant lands and now, so close to the end of all things, he has returned home at last.

“I want to have a big moment here. Whenever I travel away, everyone can’t be there live. They can’t feel the atmosphere, but I can do that here,” Volkanovski said.

“I want to be exciting, I want to be dominant, I want to give all my supporters and family and friends that feeling, that moment they’ll remember forever.

“You can still get it through the TV, but there ain’t nothing like it [live]. I want them to feel that energy. I want to get my hand raised and give them that moment. Some of them have never had that chance.”

Volkanovski’s opponent may not be ideal for the discerning fan. The looming threat of retirement might cast a long shadow.

Time is running out, but we can still make the most of it while it lasts, and even though winning this fight would do little for Volkanovski’s legacy, it can still serve as a celebration of that legacy in real time.

Lopes has enough power in his hands that should he strike the mark, the future could race towards Volkanovski all at once and then past him in a great and terrible fury, leaving him crumpled on the canvas as yesterday’s man.

But until that moment comes, if it does come at all on Sunday or in a fight beyond, Volkanovski is still the very best Australian combat sports has to offer, and we may never see his like again.

So breathe it in. Soak it up. Enjoy it while you can. Be here now, because Volkanovski still is.