Regardless of how UFC 333 plays out, Joe Lopez doesn’t see Alexander Volkanovski retiring.
UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) defends his title against Movsar Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) in the Oct. 24 main event (Paramount+) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
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Volkanovski claimed that if things were to go “terribly wrong” against Evloev, he would call it career. His head coach Lopez explains why he doesn’t see that happening.
“At the end of the day, it’s his decision, not mine,” Lopez told Submission Radio of Volkanovski. “We’ll discuss it with him obviously and go through it but knowing Alex, if he loses, he’ll go, ‘I don’t want to go out on a loss and I want to come back and get it back. Come back on a win.’ I just know how competitive he is. I just know the way he is so it’s a fine line or a two-edged sword that we’re playing here.”
Volkanovski, 37, rebounded from back-to-back knockout losses to Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev by defeating dangerous finisher Diego Lopes to claim the vacant belt at UFC 314. He then defeated Lopes a second time in their rematch at UFC 325.
“I was happy after the first Diego fight, I would have been happy if he went out then,” Lopez said. “Every fight is a gamble. The thing is Alex always comes in well prepared, and he’s looking probably better and stronger than he has done in a long time.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joe Lopez: Alexander Volkanovski’s retirement claim ‘two-edged sword’
