Alexander Volkanovski (r) holds two wins in as many fights against Max Holloway. photo Getty Images.
Christopher Reive looks at the week that was, and the weekend ahead, in combat sports.
Stop me if you've seen this one before
Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway are going to fight for the UFC featherweight title. Sound familiar? That's because it will be their third fight, and the fourth time this fight has been booked as the co-main event for UFC 276 in early July.
The weird thing about this trilogy fight is Volkanovski leads the tie 2-0; dethroning Holloway in a five-round clinic in late 2019, before edging a split decision seven months later. The pair were supposed to go again in April, but Holloway pulled out due to injury and Volkanovski instead took out 'the Korean Zombie' Chan Sung Jung.
Eager to stay busy, Volkanovski took the best fight available, opting to link up with the Kiwi contingent on UFC 276 in early July, headlined by Israel Adesanya's middleweight title defence. He trained out of Freestyle Fighting Gym in Wollongong, which has become something of a sister gym to Auckland's City Kickboxing over the years. Volkanovski's corner on a fight night usually includes City Kickboxing's Eugene Bareman and often CKB fighter Brad Riddell.
It confused many as to why the UFC would burn two fights that could easily headline their own pay-per-view cards, but Volkanovski says that didn't really come into the equation for him.
"It definitely could be main event on another card, but being on the same card as Izzy as well, with the team, we're like family," Volkanovski says.
"I said I wanted to fight asap, so whatever was the biggest fight that could happen asap, let's do it. They came back with this one, on this card – let's fucking do it. I'm easy.
"This is still the biggest fight, this will bring the most pay-per-views for us, this will draw the most attention to our division and to me. If there's ever a time to do a trilogy with a rival of yours, someone who has been competitive in the past, now's the time to do it.
"If he wants this smoke now, let's do it."
What helps to sell this fight is the fact their second encounter was a split decision. Many fans believe Holloway won. The trilogy is an easy sell.
For Volkanovski, it gives him another chance to put the rivalry to bed once and for all – and he hopes to keep the judges out of it this time around.
"For the second fight, if ever there was a time to beat me, that was the time. There was a lot going on coming into that one and I won't go into that, but he still couldn't get the job done," he says.
"You couldn't do it on my worst. I am levels and levels ahead in the fight game, fight IQ, sharpness, reactions – you name it. Miles ahead. I'm sure he looks at that and goes 'fuck, we're in for a rough night'. I'm sure he still thinks he can get it done, but he knows it ain't going to be easy. He knows I'm going to find that chin – he'd better hope it holds up as well as it has done in the past, because I'm going to find it. I'm going to find it regularly."
Shining light
It was a triumphant return to the ring for Kiwi cruiserweight boxer David Light, who needed less than three minutes to stop American Anthony Martinez in Florida last weekend. In doing so, Light claimed the vacant WBO International title – a belt last held by current WBO world champion Lawrence Okolie.
It was a statement for the Peach Boxing-trained Light. Martinez is ranked one spot above him in the WBO rankings (14) - though that is likely to change when the rankings update for the month, and opens a pathway for Light to work toward a world title shot.
Now 18-0 with 11 wins by stoppage, the future is looking bright for the 30-year-old Aucklander.
Fights in progress
It's a great time to be a combat sports fan in New Zealand. A couple of big local events are on next week – XFC in Dunedin on May 20, and the Podis fight night at the Auckland Museum also on May 20 – but we've got some international bookings to look out for too.
It's my understanding that we could have fight announcements for Kiwi UFC stars Brad Riddell and Carlos Ulberg soon, with Riddell expected back in the octagon in July and Ulberg in June. Another UFC champion could soon dwell in New Zealand as well, as it is rumoured Kai Kara-France will fight Brandon Moreno for the interim flyweight belt at UFC 277 in Dallas late in late July. This has not yet been confirmed by the UFC and it's hard to definitively say a fight will go ahead until that point, but I have it on good authority that the fight is a goer.
In boxing, we should hear early next week whether or not Joseph Parker and Joe Joyce will be fighting to advance their position at the top of the WBO and WBC rankings. There have been suggestions following Tyson Fury's apparent retirement that should he relinquish his WBC belt Parker and Joyce could be fighting for the vacant title. However, it doesn't seem like that has come into calculations and neither party is expecting that scenario to play out.
It's unlikely the WBC strip Fury of the title so it will be up to the champ to forfeit it, but with a probably undisputed title fight lingering on the horizon, who's to say that won't entice him back. What is holding up getting the Parker/Joyce fight over the line is the fact that Joyce's promoter Frank Warren is now looking for a multi-fight deal rather than signing Parker for one fight against Joyce. Because of that, it is unlikely Parker and Joyce will fight on the rumoured date of July 2. Silver lining – no clash with UFC 276.
In other boxing announcements, heavyweights Junior Fa and Hemi Ahio and cruiserweight David Nyika will all be fighting in Melbourne on June 5, getting a big opportunity to shine on the undercard for the undisputed lightweight title fight between George Kambosos Jr and Devin Haney. Big main event, big venue, big lights to shine under.
Into the Metaverse
In something a bit different – but something that might not be all that different in a few years – next weekend's XFC MMA event in Dunedin is taking to the Metaverse.
A broadcast that is believed to be the first of it's kind, the fight night in Dunedin will be streamed on the platforms Stageverse (Oculus headsets required) and Decentraland (accessible via desktop). Both are hosted by a company called KingDome who, working in conjunction with XFC and Kiwi organisation Rumble Junction, will present the stream in their online worlds.
The simple idea is that rather than sitting alone at home watching a stream, you can instead go into the virtual worlds as an avatar and communicate with other fans from around the world in real time in a 360 virtual reality environment, with couches and TVs everywhere while enjoying the action.
It will be free, too. If you're interested in seeing what a sporting event in the Metaverse is like, find more info on the event here. It starts at 6pm on Friday May 20, headlined by the featherweight title bout between Aaron Tau and Shem Murdoch.
Wondering 'what the hell is a Metaverse?' I'll have a piece out in the coming week looking at exactly that, so keep an eye out.
This weekend
The biggest event this weekend isn't a hard one to pick – Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano meeting for the undisputed light middleweight (aka super welterweight or junior middleweight, whatever floats your boat) titles in California on Sunday. The pair fought last year to a contentious split draw – one judge scored the bout 117-111 in favour of Charlo, while the others scored it 114-114 and 114-113 Castano). Charlo battled back well to sweep the last three rounds on all three scorecards to secure a draw, but even he acknowledged the card in his favour had a rather wide margin. That card is being broadcast on Spark Sport from 1pm. It's only a four-fight card, too.
In the UFC, top-ranked light heavyweights will look to earn a title shot in the main event. Former champion Jan Blachowicz takes on Aleksandar Rakic in a fight that could either be a lot of fun or really quite boring for the casual fan. Both are well-rounded fighters, though Blachowicz has the advantage of one-punch knockout power, and often stalks his opponents as he looks for a shot. For those who haven't see Rakic fight, he's one of the tallest fighters in the division and uses that to his advantage, fighting on the outside with a lot of kicks. He likes to fight off the front foot and doesn't waste any energy.
Blachowicz's willingness to walk forward and force Rakic backwards could play a vital part in this one. It's an interesting battle nonetheless. It's an 11-fight card, with other fights to keep an eye on including Ryan Spann v Ion Cutelaba (light heavyweight) and Davey Grant v Louis Smolka (bantamweight). It starts from 11:30am on ESPN, Sky Sport now and UFC Fight Pass.
'What a sad watch. Whole thing was sad.'