Henry Cejudo does not stand a chance of beating Alex Volkanovski “any time soon” according to George Hickman, one of the UFC featherweight champ’s long-time coaching team. Volkanovski moved into the top two of the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings with a dominant fourth-round TKO of “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-sung at UFC 273 last weekend. The 33-year-old Australian (24-1) has now almost cleaned out his whole division, with no clear No 1 contender. But former flyweight and bantamweight champ Cejudo called him out on Sunday after re-entering the USADA testing pool, signalling he is ready to end his two-year retirement. Volkanovski told the Post on Tuesday that Cejudo will need to “dominate” in a 145-pound debut before he can get a title shot. But Hickman – now head MMA coach at the new Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA gym in Phuket, Thailand – feels “Triple C” (16-2) would be on the losing side against “The Great”. “I’m not really sure whether he [Cejudo] would get that fight or not,” American former featherweight Hickman (9-3) told the Post . “But MMA’s a crazy sport. Crazy things happen in the fight but also on the matchmaking and business side of things that you wouldn’t expect. “If he did end up fighting Henry Cejudo I wouldn’t be surprised. But I think like Dana [White, UFC president] said before, he would have to get back in there and fight a fight or two to be able to get to a title shot at whatever weight class it was. UFC: Volk consoles Zombie – ‘I plan on doing that to all my guys’ “But Volk’s a former footy [rugby league] player who’s fought at middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, and he’s got one loss, you know. I don’t see ‘The King of Cringe’ beating him any time soon.” Hickman’s brother Frank was in Volkanovski’s corner for his victory over Jung in Jacksonville, Florida, along with City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman and Freestyle MMA head coach Joe Lopez, and Australian grappling star Craig Jones. “It was really cool to see all the photos and they called me, all of them together, right after the fight in the back,” Hickman added. “Phuket has brought all of us together and we have great relationships.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Frank Hickman (@gifi910) Hickman had his tryout at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket alongside Volkanovski, and has trained – and trained with – him for years alongside the likes of former UFC bantamweight champ Petr Yan, UFC flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko and rising UFC lightweight Brad Riddell. “I’ve seen all these people and their success doesn’t come as a surprise,” Hickman added. “I’ve always known Alex was gonna be the champion, or always fighting for the belt, so his performance [against Jung] … each time he goes out there it just gets better. “He’s a true professional in every sense, and I think it showed in the fight because it was a complete masterclass from bell to bell. “It went exactly as I expected. Volkanovski is probably the most well-rounded fighter and should be way up there on the pound-for-pound [list]. He’s the complete fighter. He can strike, he can brawl if he has to, he can take down, he can submit, he can ground and pound – he can do it all.” Volkanovski is now riding an 11-fight win streak in the UFC, but is only just starting to get the recognition and popularity he deserves, according to Hickman. “I think really especially after Volk’s last fight against [Brian] Ortega, that fight, getting out of that submission, a lot of people opened their eyes up. He’s starting to get some of the credit that is due to him. But he’s gonna have to change more people’s minds. MMA fans sometimes are hard to convince, but Alex is doing a great job. “There was a time when I used to say to him, ‘Man, stop being so nice to everybody and at least speak what’s on your mind.’ “And I listened to that press conference [after UFC 273] and I’m glad that he’s getting the attention now he deserves, but also he doesn’t let the outside noise of people’s opinions that doesn’t matter affect him. “I messaged him and said, ‘Talk your s***’, because he’s one of the nicest people you can ever meet and I’m glad he’s now saying what’s on his mind and stuff. He works his a** off. One of hardest workers I’ve ever met, one of most professional people I’ve ever met in this sport. The success he’s having couldn’t come to a better person than him.”