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Alexander Volkanovski ‘Needs to Be Compensated’ for Potential Matchup with Henry Cejudo

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Henry Cejudo recently claimed that a featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanovski could bring him out of retirement. It doesn’t sound as though Cejudo will get his wish anytime soon.

Volkanovski isn’t especially interested in the possibility unless the UFC provides the proper offer for a matchup with the former two-division champion. Cejudo retired from MMA following a victory over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, and the promotion stripped him of his 135-pound belt shortly thereafter.

“My eyes are on my division. i want to defend my belt against No. 1 contenders. We’ve got a stacked division….You got all these guys fighting and whoever has an impressive performance is gonna be the No. 1 contender,” Volkanovski said during a virtual media session to promote his fight against Max Holloway at UFC 251. “For Henry Cejudo to push in front of the line, in front of the No. 1 contender, there needs to be money involved. I’m not into that.

“As I’ve said from Day 1, I don’t want to put my division on hold. I want to fight No. 1 contenders. For me to be GOAT of this division, you need to take out No. 1 contenders. So if someone’s gonna push in front of the line, we need to be compensated for that.”

For Volkanovski to achieve his goal, a second victory over Holloway would do a great deal for his legacy. The City Kickboxing representative claimed the 145-pound belt with a decision triumph over the Hawaiian at UFC 245 this past December, his 18th consecutive professional victory overall.

While the division has a number of interesting contenders, Volkanovski claims it was never a consideration to fight anyone else other than Holloway. However, he disputes his opponent’s claim that he called for a rematch with “Blessed.”

“The UFC never brought anyone but Max Holloway. Max is telling everyone that I was asking for the fight, that was just what the UFC was asking for,” Volkanovski said. “At the end of the day….It ended up being the fight I wanted anyway. The biggest fight in my division is Max and there were no clear No. 1 contenders. A rematch against Max, you take out one of the greatest of all time…you take him out back to back, that’s saying something. Right now, that’s the biggest fight for me.”

This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com


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