Should Alex Volkanovski Move to Lightweight?

Current Featherweight Champion Alex Volkanovski stated that he would like to eventually move up to Lightweight after “a few” title defenses.

The motivation for moving to Lightweight could be to avoid a harsh weight cut to 145 or potentially attempt to achieve the coveted “double champ” status.

While Volkanovski is free to move wherever he wants, it may not be the smartest move for him.

Here are the two main reasons why Alex should not move up to Lightweight.

Featherweight Status

While Volkanovski has been incredibly impressive thus far at Featherweight, he currently only holds one title defense under his belt and not a very convincing one at that. When Alex first defeated Featherweight great Max Holloway to capture the Featherweight title, many could tell that it was indeed a close fight, but Volkanovski was most likely the winner.

After the rematch, many thought that Max won his title back. Alex needs a few more convincing wins at Featherweight before he considers a move. With one lackluster defense of his title, Volkanovski will need to bolster his reign as the Featherweight Champion before he moves anywhere if he wants to be considered one of the truly great fighters in MMA history.

Size

While Alex would be considered an average-sized person outside of the MMA world, he is considerably smaller of a fighter for the Lightweight division. Alex stands at 5’6″ tall which would make him one of the shortest fighters in the Lightweight division. Current fighters at the top of the division like Khabib Nurmagomedov (5’10”), Justin Gaethje (5’11”), and Conor McGregor (5’9″) would considerably outsize Volkanovski. Now size is not everything. Max Holloway is also 5’11” and Volkanovski beat him twice.

And all-time great Frankie Edger captured the Lightweight title standing at 5’6″, albeit a different time.

However, the height disadvantage, mixed with the added weight spells trouble for Volkanovski when stepping up to the true greats in the Lightweight division.

Can it be done? Absolutely.

With enough training and preparation, anything is possible when you have Volkanovski’s skill set. However, there is no denying that it would not be the wisest career move for Alex. Alex has been very successful at 145, which is exactly where he belongs.