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The return of The Volk ends in gold
Connor Scanlon • April 13th, 2025 6:21 pm
After a year-long lay-off, Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski returned to face rising star Diego Lopes at UFC 314 for the Undisputed Featherweight title.
With Volk aiming to become a two-time world champion, he faced heavy criticism in the lead-up to the fight from both the media and fans alike.
Many raised serious doubts about his ability to perform at the highest level, given Volk’s age (36) and the fact he was coming off two consecutive knockouts, against Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev, and former Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria.
“Age is coming for him. He’s getting older, he’s slowing down,” one MMA pundit said.
“Getting knocked out twice in a year is only bad news.
“Diego Lopes is just going to be too much for Volkanovski at this point in his career.”
Despite the criticism, Volk proved all his doubters wrong, defeating Diego Lopes in impressive fashion.
These were the pivotal moments of the fight that allowed Volkanovski to touch gold once again:
Round 1: Vintage Volk returns
Volk started strong, chopping at Lopes’ legs with powerful kicks and immediately earning his opponent’s respect.
Lopes was hesitant to engage, clearly wary of what might come back his way.
Midway through the round, Volk landed a thunderous right hand before wobbling Lopes with a left hook.
He followed that attack up with a takedown attempt and a vicious knee to the head.
The Aussie closed the round with brutal strikes in the clinch and ground-and-pound that left both fighters cut and bloodied.
A dominant start.
Round 2: Lopes steals momentum late
A slower start to the round gave way to more action as Lopes landed a clean one-two combination midway through.
Volk responded with crisp jabs and once again wobbled Lopes, sending him stumbling to the fence.
But a late knockdown from Lopes turned the tide.
After a round that Volk had largely controlled, the knockdown may have been enough to steal it for the Brazilian.
Round 3: Volk’s back in control
Volk re-established his rhythm in a competitive third round, working behind a sharp jab that continuously found its mark.
The pair traded heavy shots in multiple wild exchanges.
But it was Volk’s precision and a well-timed right hook late in the round that helped edge it in his favour.
Round 4: Lopes nearly breaks Australia’s heart
Volk came out firing with another clean one-two, followed with a big right hand.
But Lopes answered with force, hurting Volk badly with a left hand and a nasty uppercut that had the Aussie scrambling and retreating.
With both eyes now compromised, Volk’s vision appeared affected and Lopes went in for the kill.
Though Volk recovered well at the end of the round, Lopes did enough damage to take the round.
Round 5: The championship round
Knowing he may be behind, Lopes charged out aggressively in the final round.
Volk stayed composed, landing a sharp right hand, a clean elbow, and a textbook left hook—all of which Lopes walked through.
Lopes advanced forward for most of the round, whereas Volk spent majority of the round retreating.
This clearly upset Lopes, as he was signalling to Volk to stand his ground and fight.
Volk eventually gave in to Lopes request and ended the fight in a last second brawl.
Despite the advancements by Lopes, Volk’s cleaner, more technical striking likely sealed the round and the fight.
The decision:
After an extremely competitive fight, the judges revealed their score cards.
48-47, 49-46, 49-46, declaring the winner by unanimous decision Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski.
The moment of becoming a two-time Undisputed Featherweight champion brought Volk to tears.
“A lot of people counted me out… Adversity is a privilege… This moment is incredible,” Volk said in his post-fight speech.
Prior to his victory, Volk admitted that he wasn’t just fighting for himself, but he was fighting for Australia.
“That belt doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to Australia,” Volkanovski said.
With the whole of Australia rallied behind him, he is now bringing the belt back home for all us Aussies.
