UFC legend claims UFC 323 was set to be headlined by Alexander Volkanovski before major U-turn

Cejudo claims Volkanovski was set to headline UFC 323

Longtime British contender Lerone Murphy then scored a Knockout of the Year win over Aaron Pico at UFC 319, which had Volkanovski calling for a fight against ‘The Miracle’.

And according to former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo, a fight between Volkanovski and Murphy was set to headline UFC 323, which is the final PPV of the year, before the promotion made a major U-turn.

“I think they’re saving a lot of the good fights because the person that was originally supposed to headline that (event) was Volkanovski and Lerone Murphy, from what I heard from little birdies,” Cejudo said in a recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound Podcast.

“I think they’re gonna hold down on some of the bigger stars, I don’t even know if it’s that, I just think it’s that they like the fact that Merab (Dvalishvili) is willing to fight pretty often, Dana (White) said he loves that. And that took Volkanovski and Lerone from the card.”

UFC boss Dana White took to Instagram live last week to announce that bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will be making a short turnaround to make history at UFC 323, defending his title in a rematch against Petr Yan.

Cejudo’s knowledge potentially comes from the fact that he is also competing on the event and will be taking on Payton Talbott in what is his retirement fight.

When will Alexander Volkanovski return?

Although the featherweight champion is seemingly champing at the bit to return to action, he will now have to wait until 2026 until he is back in the Octagon.

The premier promotion is scheduled to return to Sydney, Australia in February, and Volkanovski will likely be the first choice to headline that event.

Who the champion will fight is currently unknown, and although it seemed as though it would be Murphy, all signs recently started to point towards Volkanovski fighting Diego Lopes in a questionable rematch.