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Alexander Volkanovski not thinking retirement, but would consider it if ‘things go terribly wrong’ against Movsar Evloev at UFC 333

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Alexander Volkanovski not thinking retirement, but would consider it if ‘things go terribly wrong’ against Movsar Evloev at UFC 333

Alexander Volkanovski is one of the UFC's most enduring champions, but retirement talk is inescapable as he heads into his UFC 333 main event title defense against Movsar Evloev.

“The Great†headlines the Oct. 24 event in Abu Dhabi with his featherweight championship on the line. Volkanovski will be 38 by the time he makes his next walk to the octagon, and is currently in his second reign as 145-pound champion, having successfully defended it against Diego Lopes this past February. That marked Volkanovski's sixth championship defense overall.

He has long maintained his intention to compete as long as he's physically able and enjoying fighting, but admitted in an interview with Australia's 10 News that a bad night against Evloev could accelerate his retirement plans.

“If things go terribly wrong, alright, we're done,†Volkanovski said. “If things go very well, like the last one, no damage, go through, alright, we'll keep it rolling.â€

Volkanovski won 25 of his first 26 pro fights before venturing up to lightweight to challenge Islam Makhachev. He lost a pair of fights to the now-welterweight champion, a close decision at UFC 284 and then a knockout loss at UFC 294 in a rematch that Volkanovski took on 10 days' notice as a replacement for Charles Oliveira.

Ilia Topuria then knocked Volkanovski out at UFC 298 to claim the featherweight title—Volkanovski's first-ever loss competing at 145 pounds—but after Topuria exited the division to move up to lightweight, Volkanovski became champion again by claiming a vacant belt with a win over Lopes before defeating him again in a rematch.

That resilience has kept Volkanovski near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings, and if he gets past the undefeated Evloev or at least delivers another memorable performance on Oct. 24, don't expect Volkanovski to leave the business anytime soon.

“Taking each fight as it goes, just trying to be real with it,†Volkanovski said. “But I don't have plans on retiring right now.â€

As for what keeps bringing him back, Volkanovski mentioned enjoying training, competition, and one more key factor.

“Money's always good,†Volkanovski said with a laugh.

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UFC Sacramento weigh-in video: Hernandez vs. Rodrigues

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UFC Sacramento weigh-in video: Hernandez vs. Rodrigues

At the UFC Sacramento weigh-ins, all 26 fighters on Saturday's fight card step on the scale Friday in Sacramento, Calif. Watch UFC official weigh-in highlights above.

ceremonial weigh-ins above, set to kick off at 6 p.m. ET, with highlights of the morning weigh-ins available below.

In the main event, middleweight contenders Anthony Hernandez and Gregory Rodrigues face off. Both fighters can weigh no more than the 186-pound limit for their non-title fight.

Hernandez is currently tied with Caio Borralho for the No. 5 spot at middleweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings after seeing an eight-fight win streak snapped by Sean Strickland. Rodrigues sits at the edge of the rankings at No. 15.

In the co-main event, top-10 heavyweight Serghei Spivac fights Vitor Petrino. Neither fighter may weigh more than 266 pounds.

Official weigh-ins begin at 12 p.m. ET.

Ceremonial weigh-ins begin at 6 p.m. ET.

Check out the UFC Sacramento weigh-in results below.

Main Card (Paramount+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Anthony Hernandez (186) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (185)

Serghei Spivac (257) vs. Vitor Petrino (246)

Reinier de Ridder (205) vs. Roman Dolidze (206)

MarQuel Mederos (156) vs. Mason Jones (156)

Carli Judice (125.5) vs. Jeisla Chaves (124.5)

Terrance Chatman (266) vs. Anthony Wint (231)

Preliminary Card (Paramount+ at 5 p.m. ET)

Jamall Emmers (143.5) vs. Lerryan Douglas (145.5)

Kennedy Nzechukwu (244) vs. Shamil Gaziev (261)

Chris Padilla (156) vs. Nasrat Haqparast (155.5)

Marcio Barbosa (145.5) vs. Ryan Kuse (144.5)

Gauge Young (155.5) vs. Stan Dorsainvil (155.5)

Wes Schultz (186) vs. Jackson McVey (185)

Shanelle Dyer (116) vs. Elise Reed (115)

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Carlos Prates issues warning to Michael Morales: ‘I will knock you out really fast’ after winning UFC title

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Carlos Prates issues warning to Michael Morales: ‘I will knock you out really fast’ after winning UFC title

Carlos Prates wants to be next in line against UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev, and he's open to defending the title immediately after against undefeated 170-pound contender Michael Morales.

Makhachev said in the aftermath of his UFC 330 title defense over Ian Machado Garry, which went down this past weekend in Philadelphia, that maybe Prates and Morales should face off to determine the rightful contender.

The knockout artist has a different idea in mind, though. Speaking with Champions Collection, Prates was told that Morales said he was afraid to fight him.

“If the guy has two arms, two legs, one dick like me, bro, I can fight him,†Prates said. “He said I'm scared about him? I'm not scared to fight you. I'm No. 1 contender, so I wanna fight for the belt. UFC never offered the fight against you. If they offer me, of course I would knock you out really fast. First round, so don't worry. You're gonna fight and I'm gonna knock you out.â€

“But now wait, [I'll] get my belt and then we can fight. I'm never scared to fight you, bro. Don't worry.â€

Prates claimed that Morales replied to the video he sent him, saying he was “ready to fight†him. The Brazilian then issued him a final message in Spanish.

“After I get my belt, I'll knock you out,†Prates said.

Prates won three straight in the UFC with knockouts over Geoff Neal, Leon Edwards and Jack Della Maddalena to maintain his 100 percent bonus rate in the company, while Morales won seven in a row under the UFC banner with his most recent ones being stoppages against Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady.

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Missed Fists | ‘What the hell was this ref thinking?’: Pros react to referee freezing during brutal knockout beatdown

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Missed Fists | ‘What the hell was this ref thinking?’: Pros react to referee freezing during brutal knockout beatdown

Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where we shine a light on fights from across the globe that may have been overlooked in these hectic times where it seems like there's an MMA show every other day.

Herb Dean has justifiably been taking a lot of guff lately, to the point that we've all wondered several times over the past few years why he's still officiating fights, much less important fights for major promotions.

Well, it could be because the alternatives are grim.

(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs, and to @Grabaka_Hitman for uploading many of the clips you see here. Give them a follow and chip in on Patreon if you can.)

Byron Wilson vs. Skyler King

Admittedly, you've got to dig deep to find a referee worse than Hokey Pokey Herb (h/t Mike Heck). Our search takes us to the great state of Georgia, where referee Nate Mann might have actually dissociated during the main event of National Fighting Championship 191.

Byron Wilson was absolutely wailing on Skyler King, so Mann could have stepped in at any moment during that onslaught; instead, he barely moved even after Wilson walked off assuming the fight was over since King was hardly defending himself. Of course, fighters shouldn't waive off their own fights, but I'm not going to blame Wilson for not wanting to do any more unnecessary damage.

After the most awkward of pauses, Wilson went right back in and clobbered King with a hard punch (OK, maybe he wanted to do a little more unnecessary damage), which finally snapped Mann back to reality as he moved to stop the fight.

Making this scene even worse, Wilson and King are essentially amateurs, with Wilson fighting for just the second time as a pro and King making his debut. You've got to protect these guys, come on, Mann.

I'm not alone in this as several pros reacted to the clip in the comments.

Chris Weidman: What the hell was this ref thinking?

Jason Miller: NPC REFEREE

Eryk Anders: Ref trippin

Shane Burgos: Refs need to be held accountable for shit like this

King himself even jumped into the comments to question the referee's judgment:

As the guy who took the shot: not really sure how the ref didn't realize I wasn't fighting back when the opponent walked away. I assumed the fight was over because otherwise why would the shots stop?? There was more than enough time to tell that I wasn't getting back into the action

Turpal Khamzayev vs. Angelo Pettis
Miguel Sanson vs. Mefi Monterroso
Josue Sotero vs. Ronnie Gibbs

As plenty of athletes will tell you, it's hard carrying a famous name, and that's just as true in combat sports.

Ladies and gentlemen, here's Angelo Pettis.

Being the cousin of MMA champions Anthony and Sergio is always going to bring plenty of expectations, especially when you consider how they both excelled at a young age, and it's been a tough go for the 21-year-old Angelo so far. In his second pro fight, he was submitted by Gage Mitchell, and this past Sunday he suffered his first knockout loss after taking some brutal kicks from Turpal Khamzayev.

That's a fantastic finish by Khamzayev, who chopped Angelo down before ending it with a flashy spinning wheel kick that the Pettis family should appreciate.

Fortunately for Angelo, he might not have been the worst knockout victim of the night, as Miguel Sanson caught Mefi Monterroso with a savage knee with Monterroso trying to stand up from the mat.

Josue Sotero topped both of those efforts, needing just 22 seconds to put Ronnie Gibbs away with a slick heel hook.

The 24-year-old Sotero improved to 5-0, with three of his wins coming in under a minute.

Anthony Pettis FC 24 is available to stream on UFC Fight Pass.

Damien Deleon vs. Terrell Nixon
Jeremiah Delgado vs. Vincenzo Iannuzzo
Jarrod St. Jean vs. Alius Delarosa

We have a few more Fight Pass goodies, starting with Damien Deleon scoring a ridiculous 11-second head kick knockout over Terrell Nixon on the Fury FC postliminary fights.

Over at CFFC 159, Jeremiah Delgado landed an even better head kick knockout against Vincenzo Iannuzzo.

Started celebrating before Iannuzzo's body even hit the canvas.

Jarrod St. Jean might have a future as a psychic because he perfectly slipped a short hook from Alius Delarosa while simultaneously landing a counter on the money.

Tater McSpadden vs. Fred Freeman

If St. Jean is psychic, Tater McSpadden might be a magician because he showed some serious sleight of hand (er, knee) at an Xtreme Fight Night event in Tulsa, Okla.

Had to watch that one multiple times to see where he slipped in the knee, but it's there, and it was more than enough to stun Fred Freeman and leave him open to some fight-ending hellbows.

Lucas Alfaro vs. Francisco Pepa

At Concordia Fight Night 8 in Argentina, Lucas Alfaro sent Francisco Pepa on a one-way trip to Buenos Aires with a limb-lifting spin kick.

Dude flew, like, two-thirds of the cage on that one.

Marsel Nurlanbek vs. Ermek Nuranov

Let's end on a nightmarish note.

I've often wondered what it would look like if someone didn't tap to a Suloev stretch fast enough and thanks to Octagon League's Marsel Nurlanbek, I have my answer.

Wish I hadn't found out. But I did and now you have, too.

Octagon League 90 is available for free replay on YouTube.

If you know of a recent fight or event that you think may have been overlooked, or a promotion that could use some attention, please let us know on X — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.

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