UFC President Dana White recently spoke about the future of the UFC featherweight division.
According to UFC President Dana White the promotion is expecting to hold a UFC featherweight title fight this coming February. When speaking to BT Sport White said that this is when it is likely that champion Alex Volkanovski can take on challenger Brian Ortega.
White said that Volkanovski vs. Ortega was “probably” good for February and added, “That’s a fun fight, too. I love that fight” (ht MMA Fighting).
White didn’t offer a specific date in February. UFC 258 is slated for February 13 and is currently expected to include Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns in a welterweight title fight. There are non pay-per-view events scheduled for every other weekend that month.
2020 saw just one outing for the UFC featherweight champion. In July, at UFC 245 on Fight Island, Volkanovski beat Max Holloway by split decision to retain his title. That bout was an immediate rematch from last December’s UFC 245, where Volkanovski beat Holloway by unanimous decision to lift the 145 lb title.
Volkanovski is unbeaten in the UFC with wins over Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes and Darren Elkins. His only professional loss happened back in 2013 in his fourth ever fight. Currently his record stands at 22-1.
Ortega (17-1 1 NC) marked a successful return to the cage in October with a lopsided decision victory over Chan Sung Jung. That convincing win came off the back off a bruising TKO loss to then-champion Max Holloway.
Prior to the Holloway fight Ortega was undefeated in 15 contests and had wins over Frankie Edgar (KO), Cub Swanson (submission) and Renato Moicano (submission).