Dana White Won’t Rule Out Alexander Volkanovski-Max Holloway Trilogy Bout

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Alexander Volkanovski might be 2-0 against Max Holloway, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the featherweight champion is free and clear of the rivalry.

In a recent interview with ESPN, UFC president Dana White revealed that he hasn’t ruled out booking a trilogy fight between Volkanovski and Holloway. Volkanovski claimed the 145-pound belt with a clear-cut unanimous decision at UFC 245, but the rematch resulted in a much more contentious split-decision triumph at UFC 251.

Well, here’s the thing,” White said. “Calvin Kattar just fought. Yair Rodriguez has a fight coming up. ‘[Korean] Zombie’ has a fight coming up. Ortega and Zabit – all of these guys are going to fight in the next couple of months here. We’ll see how that all plays out. It’s hard to not say we can give Max a rematch for that fight again – do it a third time. I think all of the fans and the media would agree with that. I don’t know for sure.”

According to MMADecisions.com, 18 of the 27 media scorecards awarded the rematch to Holloway. While Volkanovski outlanded his foe by a 137-to-102 count in significant strikes, Holloway authored two of the bout’s most memorable moments when he rocked his opponent toward the end of Rounds 1 and 2.

In the aftermath of the rematch, White questioned the decision making of the cageside judges. Volkanovski, however, declared the Holloway chapter of his career to be closed.

“Obviously, he’s got to go through the rankings system now and I don’t think the first fight was close. This was probably closer than the first fight but again, I got the job done,” Volkanovski said after UFC 251. “Doesn’t matter. I feel like I showed I’m the best fighter in the world even today. I believe I finished that chapter. I don’t know where he goes from here, I don’t know if he wants to move up or whatever. But I did what I needed to do.”

White is well aware that Volkanovski wouldn’t be thrilled with the possibility of a third meeting with Holloway. For now, the champ’s next move appears to be undecided.

“I’m sure Volkanovski doesn’t love that idea,” White said. “He’s like, ‘Listen, I just beat this guy twice. You know?’ And if you’re Volkanovski, you’re like, ‘Guess what? The media aren’t judges. Dana White is not a judge. None of these people are judges. The people that are assigned to judge the fight say I won twice.’

“So if you’re Volkanovski, I get it. And if you’re Volkanovski, you probably want to take a look at a different guy. I don’t know. I haven’t really talked to Volkanovski about it. It’s something I definitely need to do. We’ll see how this thing plays out.”