Alexander Volkanovski will defend his UFC featherweight championship in the main event of UFC 290 against interim champion Yair Rodriguez at the T-Mobile Arena.
The fight will serve as the headliner for the UFC's annual International Fight Week as the Australian aims to retain his championship for the fifth time. Perhaps of more significance is another defense for Volkanovski will firmly center him into the conversation as the greatest featherweight in MMA history.
His 11th win in the featherweight division will place him ahead of Jose Aldo for the fourth-most wins in 145-pound history and would also extend a winning streak that would make him second all-time behind Max Holloway. His sixth win in a featherweight championship fight will place him only behind Aldo (eight) for most in division history as well. But does this make him the greatest featherweight of all time?
Let's analyse the other contenders: Aldo, Holloway and Conor McGregor.
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Jose Aldo
The conversation about the greatest featherweights of all time has to include Aldo. Any list without him is null and void as he set the bar for the featherweights after a torrid run though WEC and UFC. His frightening combination of power and speed made him arguably the most devastating fighter in the history of the lighter weight classes.
After capturing the then-WEC featherweight title by annihilating Mike Brown in 2009, he would carry the title into the UFC and hold it for five years before being knocked out in stunning fashion against Conor McGregor. He retired in 2022 and entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023, cementing his place in MMA history.
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As phenomenal as he was, the loss to McGregor, a pair of TKO losses to Holloway and dropping a decision to Volkanovski make it quite difficult for Aldo to be recognized as the greatest in 145-pound history. He set the bar, but the others on this list climbed above it.
Conor McGregor
No conversation can be had without The Notorious Conor McGregor involved. His rampage through 145 pounds was historic and ended with a stunning 13-second decimation of Aldo to become the featherweight champion.
McGregor's popularity is undeniable and his torrid run through the featherweight division only adds to the allure of the Irishman. But does that make him the greatest 145-pound fighter of all time?
No.
There's no denying that what McGregor accomplished in his tenure as a featherweight is notable. But the brevity of his run removes him from the conversation entirely. His obliteration of Chad Mendes to become the interim champion followed by his stoppage of Aldo to be the sole featherweight champion plays well in the highlight reels. Taking Aldo out after the Brazilian cemented himself as the greatest 145-pound fighter of all time is significant. However, McGregor immediately departed the division before ever defending the featherweight title. And if the conversation is about the greatest fighters in this particular weight class, a tenure without a title defense damages his place amongst the all-time greats in this conversation.
MORE: Volkanovski predicts he'd finish McGregor inside three rounds
Max Holloway
Holloway's resume at 145 pounds is superb and saw the Hawaiian knock off contenders definitively. His early tenure in the UFC as a 21-year-old was a mixed bag with losses to McGregor and Dustin Poirier, but then he went undefeated for the next four years, showcasing a marked improvement in his boxing, capturing the interim title with a dominant performance against Anthony Pettis in 2016 and unifying the titles with a stoppage of Aldo in 2017.
His 13-fight winning streak is still the best in featherweight history, and he boasts a stunning number of records for the division including significant strikes landed (2817) and total strikes landed (3021). But he doesn't just hold the record in the featherweight division — he's the UFC's all-time leader in both categories.
The knock against Holloway is that he fell short against Volkanovski: not once, not twice, but three times. And the third fight where Volkanovski defeated Holloway at his own game by pitching a shutout in a bout that was fought entirely standing up can be considered the nail in the coffin when compared to his Australian counterpart.
Is Volkanovski the GOAT at featherweight?
The short answer is yes.
Volkanovski's reign of dominance has seen him go undefeated in the UFC featherweight division for nearly seven years and pick up wins against two of the three fighters routinely mentioned as the greatest 145-pound fighters to ever compete in the promotion.
Even before his fight with Rodriguez, the Australian's accomplishments place him at the top of the weight class and it would take a sharp decline to knock him off his perch. Should he lose to Rodriguez, a conversation could be had about whether he's better than Aldo or Holloway but considering he's a combined 4-0 against both, it's difficult to place either above him.
What we are witnessing is greatness in real-time. It's often challenging to label somebody as the G.O.A.T. of anything while they are still competing, but considering what the 34-year-old has done since his UFC debut in 2016, he's worthy of the claim.