Alexander Volkanovski has named his top five fighters of all time.
‘The Great’ is widely regarded as one of the best featherweights in MMA history, but he’s currently on the comeback trail after losing his title to Ilia Topuria, who knocked him out cold at UFC 298 in February.
Alexander Volkanovski is expected to make a triumphant return to the Octagon in 2025, but in the meantime, he’s been entertaining his fans by uploading videos to YouTube.
The latest was a Q&A session, which saw him reveal details about his retirement plans and even discuss his game plan for a fantasy fight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
Alexander Volkanovski’s GOAT list
One fan wanted to know who Volkanovski ranks as the top five greatest fighters in UFC history.
Volkanovski immediately named former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson as his GOAT before putting Jon Jones in the number two spot.
Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva are two names that often pop up when fans discuss the best of all time, but Israel Adesanya isn’t. Still, all three of them made Volkanovski’s top five, which is sure to cause a stir among fans.
“I’m gonna say, Demetrious Johnson,” the Aussie fan favorite said.
“I’m gonna have to throw Jon Jones in there. Everyone knows my take on the trouble outside of [the Octagon], but he’s just been the champion and at the top forever, so you can’t not [include him].
“I know a lot of people are gonna throw out them things, and I do myself because I pride myself on staying away from all of that crap as well. But you can’t deny his skill, he’s definitely one of the greatest of all time, so you are going to have to give Jon Jones that.
“Georges St-Pierre. Georges St-Pierre has definitely got to be there.
“I’m gonna have to throw Anderson Silva in there. And I’m gonna throw my boy, Israel Adesanya, in there as well. A lot of championships, and when it comes to striking, I think he’s the greatest striker the UFC has ever seen.”
Alexander Volkanovski would love Max Holloway’s granite chin
Another fan asked Volkanovski, ‘If you could have one attribute from another fighter what would it be?’
The 36-year-old initially contemplated picking the youngest prospect he knows so he could roll back the clock before eventually settling on Max Holloway’s chin. ‘Blessed’ was known for having a wild ability to take shots, but his granite chin was finally cracked when he lost to Topuria at UFC 308 in October.
“I was going to say just pick a young fighter and be like, ‘Yeah, be 18 again’.”
“Max had the chin and you still that would still be a crazy chin. I’d say yeah, chin, because that’s how I’ve always looked at it. This is how it’s always been for me going through my career. You always know that someone can catch you, that’s just the game.
“I’ve always said it’s going to be hard for somebody to actually beat me. I mean, Islam [Makhachev] had that very close fight, that first one. So there’s only very, very few – if any – that can take me to a decision and beat me that way.
“Obviously, you could say Islam did, it was a very close fight but I’ve always said that anyone can catch you, right? This is MMA. This is a crazy sport. In any combat sport, anyone can catch you. If you could sit there and have the chin where you take away that only opportunity for someone to beat you, you’re going to be pretty hard to beat, that’s for sure.
“I’m gonna say pick someone with the greatest chin because I’m comfortable with everything else.”
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