Alexander Volkanovski pushes for Justin Gaethje retirement fight after UFC 333 win; Dana White reacts

Alexander Volkanovski is undeniable.Since recapturing his featherweight title in April 2025, Volkanovski has defended it twice, bringing his total title fight wins to nine — a new all-time record for the UFC featherweight division that surpasses the legendary mark of Jose Aldo. UFC 333 on Saturday was the latest chapter in the legacy of Volkanovski, as he scored a stellar second-round knockout of the previously undefeated top contender, Movsar Evloev.With Volkanovski already widely considered one of the sport's all-time greats, UFC CEO Dana White couldn't praise the 38-year-old featherweight kingpin enough when speaking to reporters backstage at UFC 333’s post-fight press conference."Incredible. The guy's an absolute stud. Coming in and beating an undefeated younger [contender] — and the guy's built like a [truck]. Volkanovski is incredible," White said."He was the aggressive fighter. He was the one really going after [Evloev] and trying to finish, and he's just — this guy’s f***ing built different."Volkanovski, 38, has been there and done that in the featherweight division. Although he fell short in two previous bids for lightweight gold against Islam Makhachev, Volkanovski spoke prior to Saturday’s Evloev bout about possibly returning to 155 pounds for one more try.After the Evloev win, White is inclined to give his legendary champion whatever he wants next, which could mean a dance with current lightweight titleholder Justin Gaethje."When you've accomplished what he's accomplished, there's not much we're going to say no to with him,” White said of Volkanovski. “So we'll see how this whole thing plays out.”It was no surprise to hear Volkanovski respond positively to White's comments later in the presser. However, he took it a step further — by putting his career on the line.Volkanovski is admittedly taking his career fight by fight at this stage, having previously said a loss would probably prompt him to call an end to his near 15-year career. If he gets the Gaethje fight, though, he'll call it a wrap regardless of the result."I'm an honest guy, and I want it to be fair, so a lot of times, I'm like, 'I don't want to hold divisions up,'" Volkanosvki said. "But I believe that we could do this and not hold the division up. Whether it's both our retirement fight and put it on the line, which would be cool — a little bit of a superfight 38-year-olds just going at it, then we'll leave it all and let the young fellas sort it out."That's something I would retire for. If they ever wanted to give me that opportunity, I would retire win or lose; then it's vacant, so I'm not holding the division up. Then you've got everyone else fighting anyway. Otherwise, I'm just taking each fight as it goes."