Alexander Volkanovski says he would retire win or lose if given Justin Gaethje superfight

Alexander Volkanovski says he would retire win or lose if the UFC gives him a lightweight title superfight with Justin Gaethje. The featherweight champion made the pledge at the UFC 333 post-fight press conference in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, October 24, hours after stopping previously unbeaten Movsar Evloev at 4:54 of the second round at Etihad Arena.

UFC CEO Dana White signalled he is open to giving Volkanovski whatever he wants next. No fight has been offered or booked, and Gaethje has not publicly responded.

'I would retire win or lose'

Volkanovski first floated the idea of a send-off superfight with Gaethje on a podcast before fight week. After the Evloev win, he went further and said he would put his career on the line.

"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,'" Volkanovski said, as quoted by Uncrowned. "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," he added. "Otherwise, I'm just taking each fight as it goes."

Dana White: 'Not much we're going to say no to'

White praised the 38-year-old Australian backstage after the event.

"Incredible. The guy's an absolute stud. Coming in and beating an undefeated younger [contender]... Volkanovski is incredible," White said, according to Uncrowned.

Asked about Volkanovski's next move, White added: "When you've accomplished what he's accomplished, there's not much we're going to say no to with him. So we'll see how this whole thing plays out."

Featherweight options remain

Volkanovski also made clear he is not planning to walk away otherwise. "I said if I didn't take too much damage, we probably keep going, so maybe we keep going," he said, as reported by The National.

At 145 pounds, The National listed Jean Silva or the winner of Aljamain Sterling vs Kevin Vallejos as potential next challengers. Volkanovski himself named Silva and Sterling as the contenders who stand out most before UFC 333.

"I guess we've just got to weigh the options. I'm in a pretty good position when you've got the president saying that you could pretty much do whatever you want," Volkanovski said.

Early betting lines were posted after the event. Sportsbook BetOnline opened Gaethje as a -180 favourite and Volkanovski at +157 for a hypothetical bout, as shared by TSN's Aaron Bronsteter. The fight has not been made.

Where things stand

• Volkanovski is now 29-4 and has nine title-fight wins at featherweight, passing Jose Aldo for the most in the division's history.
• Evloev suffered the first defeat of his career.
• Gaethje, 37, won the undisputed lightweight title against Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 in June and has openly discussed retirement and sitting out the rest of 2026.
• Volkanovski previously lost two lightweight title fights to Islam Makhachev.

Gaethje has not responded to the retirement-fight proposal.