Saturday, October 21, will be the second time that Alexander Volkanovski attempts to be a simultaneous double champion in the UFC. As part of his fight week media obligations, he spoke on the Full Send Podcast about his upcoming fight with Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
How the fight came about
Volkanovski was relaxing at home with his partner and newborn baby when he got a call from his manager, who told him that Charles Oliveira would not make the main event at UFC 294 due to an injury. Volkanovski detailed how the call went down.
”He first said (Volkanovski’s manager), I don’t expect you to do this, but I’ve got to tell you, it’s part of my job. Charles is out; what do you reckon? I think he (my manager) was just expecting me to go like, ‘Man, no way,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know, man, you know, it’s an opportunity.’ I was like, let me talk to Jo – my wife – because I was on board. Jo had a smile on her face straight away; she was all good with it. I rang back Ash (Volkanovski’s manager) and just said everyone’s on board, let’s do it.”
The fact that Volkanovski’s wife was supportive of him taking a short-notice bout shows that she knows how important fighting is to him. Although Volkanovski was scheduled to fight in January, having a three-month wait was getting to him mentally. He feels as though he is in his prime right now as an athlete, and every day not spent preparing for a fight is a day wasted. Volkanovski’s wife saw this was taking a mental toll on the featherweight champion, and Volkanovski feels this contributed to her decision to give him the green light to compete at UFC 294.
Fast forward a few days later, and Volkanovski is in Abu Dhabi preparing to fight Islam Makhachev in a rematch of the main event at UFC 284 in Perth, Western Australia. This time, the fight is in Makhachev’s backyard, so the fans will be on Volkanovksi’s back instead of cheering him on, which he seems excited about and is relishing the challenge.
Volkanovski’s thoughts on the fight
While some fans wish that Volkanovski had a whole camp to prepare for the mammoth task of moving up in weight class to become a double champion, Volkanovski feels that because the fight has been agreed on short notice, it’s only added to the hype and made the contest even bigger. The fight sells because of how close the first fight was, and you’d have to go far back into the UFC archives to find a boring Alexander Volkanovski fight. This time, he says, will be no different. The fans know that he will turn up to fight and put on a show.
Volkanovski told the Full Send Podcast that he trains all year round and is always available to be called upon to fight. He seems to be in a really good place going into his fight with Islam Makhachev:
”I’m coming in so fresh, and I think that gives me an advantage. I haven’t exhausted myself mentally and physically. I get to go in there dangerous; I think this is going to be one of the most dangerous you have ever seen me, you know what I mean? [Am I] going to the most prepared? No, I’m going to lie to you; it’s pretty obvious [I won’t be]. One thing you will see is this will be the most dangerous I’ve ever been”.
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