Alexander Volkanovski signs off on Yair Rodriguez vs. Josh Emmett interim title fight: “I don’t mind the idea”

By Josh Evanoff - July 18, 2022

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is fine with an interim title.

Alexander Volkanovski

‘The Great’ was last in action against Max Holloway at UFC 276 earlier this month. In the highly-anticipated trilogy fight, Volkanovski dominated ‘Blessed’. The 33-year-old went on to win a lopsided unanimous decision after five rounds.

Despite the champion fighting earlier this month, there’s already talk of an interim championship at 145-pounds. The main reason is that Volkanovski suffered a broken hand in his win over Holloway. Furthermore, he’s expressed interest in fighting at lightweight next.

The leading contenders to fight for an interim title are Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett. Both contenders are coming off victories, and Dana White seems to like the idea. It appears that the champion does as well.

Josh Emmett, Calvin Kattar

Alexander Volkanovski addressed speculation of an interim title bout on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. The UFC featherweight champion seemed fine with the championship while he’s out due to injury.

“I even said that a big win from Yair would get him a shot. To be honest, you’re probably going to ask about this whole interim belt thing. Dana talking about it and things like that, I’ll do it for you. To be honest, I don’t mind the idea while I’m sitting here. Again, I think it’s looking like me defending that lightweight belt, and there’s no clear number one contender.”

Alexander Volkanovski continued, “Let them fight for that number one contender, I think they both deserve it. Josh Emmett and Yair Rodriguez they’re both in a position where they could get a shot. Are they screaming out that it needs to be them? No, not really. So, let them fight for that number one contender if it’s for an interim belt. Then we’ll fight, sweet.”

What do you think about Alexander Volkanovski’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below!

 


Topics:

Alex Volkanovski Josh Emmett UFC Yair Rodriguez