UFC featherweight legend Alexander Volkanovski was the first Australian-born fighter to win a UFC title and the future Hall of Famer is set for a homecoming this weekend at UFC 325.
Volkanovski will look for the sixth title defence of his UFC career and his second win over Diego Lopes when they meet in a rematch Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
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The 36-year-old won 18 consecutive fights en route to winning the featherweight title in 2019. Volkanovski ruled over the division until 2024 when he lost the title to Ilia Topuria who later vacated the belt when he left the division.
Due to his dominance during his time as champion, the UFC selected Volkanovski to compete for the vacant title after Topuria moved to lightweight last year. Volkanovski became the oldest 145-pound fighter to win a title when he defeated Lopes at UFC 314 last April in their first main event clash.
Lopes rebounded with an emphatic win over Jean Silva as the UFC had Volkanovski wait on the sidelines until the organization returned to his home country. Instead of having Volkanovski face an undefeated contender like Movsar Evloev or Lerone Murphy, the UFC booked a rematch with Lopes.
Before the pair locks horns for a second time, they had to successfully make weight on Friday at the official UFC 325 weigh-in just like the 26 other athletes set to compete on the card.
Volkanovski and Lopes needed to weigh no more than 145 pounds for their title fight to be made official, whereas all non-title competitors on the card were granted a one-pound allowance per usual.
The champ stepped on the scale with a half-pound to spare and the challenger came in at an even 145 pounds to render their title rematch official.
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Watch UFC 325 on Sportsnet+
Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes meet in a featherweight title rematch, plus Dan Hooker faces fellow brawler Benoit Saint Denis. Watch UFC 325 on Saturday, Jan. 31 with prelim coverage beginning 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, and pay-per-view main card starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
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One fighter failed to make weight Friday and even attempted to trick athletic commission officials before eventually being removed from the card.
Flyweight Aaron Tau was the final athlete to step on the scale. Being the last fighter to weigh in is often an indication a fighter has had difficulty getting to their contracted weight limit.
When Tau, a 32-year-old from New Zealand, stepped on the scale to register his weight it initially read 122.25 pounds. The limit for a non-title flyweight bout is 126 pounds, so seeing Tau weigh in last yet comfortably make weight with four pounds to spare caused some confusion.
At UFC weigh-ins there is always a curtain available to shield athletes in case they need to strip down nude to make weight. Tau was standing behind the curtain on his initial attempt and could be seen subtly resting his elbows on the black fabric, which would impact the accuracy of the weight.
Once his weight was read, Tau put his underwear back on and stepped back onto the scale to pose for cameras, however the commission then double checked his weight and asked him to weigh in again without the curtain and Tau all of a sudden weighed 129 pounds.
His opponent, Namsrai Batbayar, made the 126-pound limit but he will not be able to compete at UFC 325 due to his opponent’s miss. The organization officially cancelled the matchup, which was scheduled to open the early portion of the preliminary card.
Technically this contest was not a sanctioned UFC bout. Instead, Tau and Batbayar were set to compete in the flyweight finals for Season 4 of Road to UFC, a tournament-style series featuring international fighters who compete for a shot at winning an official UFC contract, similar to Dana White’s Contender Series or The Ultimate Fighter.
Tau is 11-1 as a pro with his lone loss being a decision on the Contender Series in 2024, and this controversial weight miss certainly does not bode well for Tau’s future with the UFC.
Below are the official weigh-in results for UFC 325:
— Alexander Volkanovski (144.5) vs. Diego Lopes (145)
— Dan Hooker (155.75) vs. Benoit Saint Denis (155.75)
— Rafael Fiziev (155.5) vs. Mauricio Ruffy (155.25)
— Tai Tuivasa (265.5) vs. Tallison Teixeira (259)
— Quillan Salkilld (155.5) vs. Jamie Mullarkey (155.5)
— Junior Tafa (205.25) vs. Billy Elekana (204)
— Cameron Rowston (184.5) vs. Cody Brundage (184.75)
— Jacob Malkoun (185.75) vs. Torrez Finney (185.75)
— Jonathan Micallef (170.25) vs. Oban Elliott (169.75)
— Kaan Ofli (145.25) vs. Yizha (145.5)
— Sangwook Kim (155.75) vs. Dom Mar Fan (154.75)**
— Keiichiro Nakamura (145.25) vs. Sebastian Szalay (145.75)**
— Sulangrangbo (135.75) vs. Lawrence Lui (135.25)**
— Aaron Tau (129*) vs. Namsrai Batbayar (126)**
*Fighter missed weight and bout has been cancelled
**Road to UFC tournament final matchup
