Alexander Volkanovski is currently fielding offers for the first title defense of his second reign as UFC featherweight champion.
‘The Great’ won back his 145lb belt by outpointing Diego Lopes at UFC 314 in April.
After that, it seemed he was destined to defend the strap against 19-0 contender Movsar Evloev.
However, the Russian fighter recently confirmed he’ll return to action in a non-title bout this July.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Yair Rodriguez 2?
Alexander Volkanovski easily beat Yair Rodriguez with a third-round TKO to defend the featherweight title for the fourth time in 2023.
Since then, the Mexican has gone 1-1 and done nothing to re-establish himself as the number one contender at 145lbs.
Still, rumors about a title fight rematch between Volkanovski and Rodriguez have been swirling for weeks.
“It’s pretty clear that it wasn’t gonna be Movsar,” the Aussie fan favorite told FOX Sports on Wednesday.
“I thought it would be him because he’s undefeated. I think they’ve matched him up. You’ve seen him tweet something about that, so he’s already gone out and made it public that he unfortunately can’t fight for the title.
“Yair’s name has popped up, but no dates are set right now.
“I think it’s just a lot of moving parts through all of the divisions.
“I think there’s a lot happening right now and we’ll see what comes up.
“The rumors you’re all hearing are pretty much true, but nothing is locked in.”
Robert Whittaker’s awkward predicament
Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker doesn’t want to see Volkanovski vs Rodriguez 2.
‘The Reaper’ claimed to speak for everyone when rumors about the rematch first popped up.
“No one wants to see this fight,” Whittaker said with a laugh on his podcast.
“No one was sitting at home thinking, ‘Do you know what fight I wanna run back? Volk and Yair.’”
Rodriguez blasted him for his comments on social media before he was asked to address them while sitting inches away from Volkanovski.
“He’s an emotional guy,” Whittaker said of Rodriguez.
“I’ve backed him in a lot of his fights and I’ve said only good things.
“I didn’t even say anything negative to him… He’s got to chill out a little bit.”