MMA is a harsh game because even if one day you’re a star, and the fans cheer your name, it takes one moment to change everything and bring you down. Everyone dismisses years of hard-earned records in the blink of an eye as soon as a fighter becomes an ‘old guard’. Take Anderson Silva or B.J. Penn, for example. Silva’s startling loss of the UFC middleweight title at UFC 162 to Chris Weidman changed the idea of invincibility in the sport. Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn experienced a slow-burn collapse due to a string of losses in the latter part of his career, leading people to write off the once-dominant legend of the sport..

Now, the latest victim of this take, with fans attaching the tag of ‘Old guard’, is Alexander Volkanovski. The former featherweight champion is on a two-fight losing skid against Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria, leading some fans to believe that he is “washed.” A fan on Reddit asked, “Has the downfall started for Alexander Volkanovski?” It’s true. Fans began to write off ‘The Great’ after his 2nd loss to the lightweight champ, and by the time he got to Topuria, Volkanovski himself embraced the ‘old man’ moniker.

But Aussie UFC star Robert Whittaker believes that his fellow Australian fighter’s championship days are far from over. According to ‘The Reaper’, Volkanovski has the chance to regain the featherweight title when he fights Diego Lopes for a vacant belt this Saturday at UFC 314. 

It’s true that ‘The Great’ is not in his prime at 36, but ‘The Reaper’ is confident of the former’s prowess inside the cage. “Let me clear it straight away, I am going for Volk. So everything is going to be colored in green and gold, alright. I think the million-dollar question is—what Volk are we going to see in the Octagon come that night, come UFC 314?” Whittaker said on the MMArcade Podcast.

He further added, “Everyone was already talking about his losses to Makhachev—his knockout, and then back on to the knockout with Topuria, back on to his age. And as MMA fans like to do, as soon as he lost they started throwing his age around and calling him a wash, which is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. MMA fans are the best and worst of us as people, they are.”

Before losing to Topuria, Volk had never lost a fight in a 145 lbs war. But after Makhachev floored him with a head kick, Volkanovski’s durability has been called into question. And then Topuria knocked him out at UFC 298. The 26-4-0 star had 12 back-to-back wins in the UFC before he lost to Islam Makhachev at UFC 284. So he is an amazing fighter who never failed; however, as soon as he did fail, people started questioning his potential.

This irked Whittaker, and he is in full support of Volkanovski using his entire skillset to land shots and go for takedowns, wearing Diego Lopes down. “I see Volk going in there, using full skill sets, landing shots, going for takedowns, wearing Diego Lopes down, riding him for five rounds, and winning a decision,” Whittaker said. “Or by getting him out of there in the later end of the rounds.” However, does everyone think the same? Not Henry Cejudo, it seems.

Henry Cejudo has a scary revelation for Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes

‘Triple C’ felt that the previous explosive and unbeatable version of Volkanovski is no longer there. “I don’t think it’s the same Volk,” the former 2-division UFC champ told The Schmo in a recent interview. “I think Diego Lopes is gonna beat him, I do.”

Given the two back-to-back losses that Volk had, Cejudo’s fear is not unjustified. But this is not just any fighter we are talking about—this is Alexander Volkanovski, who was undefeated in the UFC until 2023. This is why Cejudo left a crack in the door for Volkanovski to defeat Lopes. “But if Volkanovski does get it done, he gets it done. It’s not Ilia Topuria that he’s going to [have to] beat,” Cejudo claimed.

With different predictions flying all around, who are you rooting for? The experienced and former champ Volkanovski or the exciting up-and-comer Diego Lopes, who is a BJJ expert riding a 5-fight winning streak right now? Share your thoughts in the comments below.