Alexander Volkanovski has fired a pointed message at his featherweight rivals as they squabble over who will get the next shot at his title.
Alexander Volkanovski may have a big target on his back, but the UFC featherweight champion appears to be getting a little frustrated at the in-fighting among the group of contenders looking to get the next shot at his title.
Zabit Magomedsharipov called for an immediate shot at Volkanovski after his main event fight with fellow contender Yair Rodriguez at UFC on ESPN 16 fell through due to Rodriguez sustaining an ankle injury. Rodriguez started trash-talking the Russian after he had ruled himself out of the matchup.
Elsewhere at the sharp end of the division, the long-simmering tension between Brian Ortega and “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung, is looking set to come to a head when the pair finally meet Oct. 17. They originally were set to meet in December 2019, but that booking was scratched when Ortega tore his ACL.
But as things stand, the squabbles and skirmishes between four of the top contenders at 145 pounds are preventing the UFC from being able to anoint a clear No. 1 contender to face Volkanovski (22-1 MMA, 9-0 UFC) next, and Alexander “The Great” doesn’t seem too content to sit around.
It led Volkanovski, via the UFC’s Australian and New Zealand Twitter account, to send a pointed message to the top contenders at 145 pounds, telling them in no uncertain terms to sort themselves out and earn their shot at the gold.
“A message to the featherweight division, to the contenders: Get your (expletive) together, start fighting, earn that No. 1 spot. It ain’t gonna be given to you. Go and take it, and I’ll see you soon.”
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