Alexander Volkanovski went to war with Diego Lopes at UFC 314, digging deep to go the full twenty-five minutes and reclaim the featherweight title, becoming a two-time champion. But that hard-earned victory didn’t come without a cost. We are all aware of the mental toll this bout had on the Aussie ace, and the need to exercise his demons was at an all-time high. But by the end of the grueling main event, Volkanovski’s body had also taken a serious toll. Just days after the pay-per-view, his longtime head coach, Joe Lopez, revealed that the new 145lbs champ may have suffered a hand injury during the fight. “He might have broken his hand,” Lopez said in a recent interview, hinting that the champ could be sidelined for a while to recover.

For the broken hand, an X-ray test was scheduled for later. But there have been no reports on that front yet. Not only does the Aussie seem to have a broken hand, but one of the most talked-about injuries after the fight was Volkanovski’s vision. Apparently, he blinded himself during the early stages of the fight after a powerful blow from Lopes. “It went from nothing which made me go ‘Oh shit, this ain’t good to a little blur..Then it came back a little towards the end.”

Adding to that, ‘Volk’ even broke his thumb before the fight, but the featherweight is hellbent on attempting to return and fight two more times in 2025. “Maybe it can be July and then September, maybe we can fit it in,” the Aussie star stated during last PPV’s post-fight presser. And not to mention, the Aussie’s face was a modern art masterpiece filled with cuts and gashes. All these injuries aren’t going to heal quickly, but Israel Adesanya‘s coach, Eugene Bareman, who trains ‘Volk’ in City Kickboxing, believes that the Australian star could shock everyone and make his return sooner than most people think. “I think he’ll turn around pretty quickly,” Eugene Bareman told ‘Combat TV‘.

“I think he wants to keep the momentum going like back in the day. I think he knows there are advantages to that,” the CKB coach further added. “He also knows that, you know, he’s going to be 37 soon. So, I think he’s going to move things along pretty quickly. I won’t be surprised if he gets into training like, pretty quickly, and starts to work on new things.“

The reason why Adesanya’s coach expects Volkanovski to return quickly is because of the “momentum” he carries now with the huge title win. But perhaps the most important issue at hand is his age. After Alexander Volkanovski lost two fights on the trot via devastating finishes, most people in the MMA community raised concerns about ‘The Great’ potentially getting past his prime years as a fighter. But guess what? His UFC 314 win shut those speculations down. However, that doesn’t mean that Volkanovski isn’t ageing, and that’s why Bareman claims that he expects the featherweight champion to make use of the time he has on his hands.

While it’s not certain when and with whom he’ll fight in his next two fights, Volkanovski already has his eye on a contender who’s going to enhance his featherweight resume. And guess what? That fighter is undefeated. Here’s what he had to say!

Alexander Volkanovski wants to fight a 19-0 star next

The reason why Alexander Volkanovski’s UFC 314 triumph was huge was because it was against a much younger fighter, with a 6-year age gap. People praised him for that exact reason, including his former rival, Ilia Topuria. So what’s going to be sweeter than that? Well, another win over a much younger surging contender would be a huge achievement to add to his resume. Enter Movsar Evloev, who Volkanovski claims deserves a title shot, but also wants to hand him the first zero on his record.

“I did mention Movsar. He’s undefeated. I like the fact that he’s undefeated and still one of the younger generation again, right? I think for the legacy, that would still mean so much,” Alexander Volkanovski told FOX Sports Australia. “Is that what the fans want? Is that what the UFC wants? I don’t know, I’m going to need to talk to them. We’ll see what happens, but I think my hands all good. I don’t think there’s any broken bones. So, I’m looking to let this heal up, and I’ll get back in there soon.”

Well, it all comes down to Dana White’s decision as to what he wants for the next featherweight title defense. But before that, we’ll have to wait and see how soon Alexander Volkanovski returns. Drop your comments below.