Following an
emotional session at the UFC 294 press-conference, there was
plenty of concern for Alexander
Volkanovski’s mental well-being.
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With his first-round knockout loss to Islam
Makhachev a few more days in the rearview mirror, Volkanovski
addressed his mindset in a video on his YouTube channel. The UFC’s
reigning featherweight champion admitted that the defeat weighed
heavily on him, but he also made it clear that he’s in a good place
mentally overall.
“So straight after the fight, I did the post-fight press conference
and I want people to understand that, yeah, there was a raw emotion
seen, but I want everyone to know that I’m OK,” Volkanovski said.
“I think that people have to remember that I did just come off
getting tagged, knocked out. I lost. I knew that legacy wise and
all that, all those things start coming into play, so that was
obviously hurting me.”
In the immediate aftermath of the loss, Volkanovski lobbied for a
quick turnaround, targeting the UFC’s January pay-per-view event
for his next Octagon appearance. While he admitted that fighting
and being in camp gives him a sense of purpose, he’s still also a
devoted family man. Sometimes, the two things go hand-in-hand.
“Sometimes you put a lot of pressure on yourself because I know I
need to make the most of me in my prime because my days are
numbered,” Volkanovski said. “Me and my wife, we’re great. We have
a beautiful family, and we’re good. I want everyone to know that. I
don’t want everyone thinking that it’s not like that.
“It’s just me trying to deal with being a high-performance athlete
and me not being able to fulfill that side of things, especially
the last three months. When I’m in camp, there’s a specific
direction, I know exactly what’s happening and it’s easy when it
comes to that, and I’m still very present at home. I’m probably
even a better dad when I’m in camp. I’m ticking all the boxes, but
it was harder to do that the last few weeks when everything was
happening. I want everyone to know that it was just more of the
timing, and that’s why you see me a little more vulnerable in the
press conference after getting knocked out and having that sort of
situation.”
Volkanovski also admitted that taking the rematch against Makhachev
on short notice might have negatively affected his performance on
fight night.
“I think it was pretty clear you could see that it wasn’t me in
there,” he said. “You can obviously put that down to preparation.
I’m a big believer in preparation. Everyone knows that, and I just
wasn’t as prepared as I usually am. I think you need to have them
sparring rounds, you need to see the shots, you need to have these
bodies in front of you consistently to help you when it comes to
fight time. I didn’t have that.”
Volkanovski has rarely looked more vulnerable than he did following
UFC 294, but he believes it’s a positive to create more awareness
regarding mental health — particularly for athletes.
“One thing that I do want to say, even though I’m fine, I’m sort of
glad you guys got to see that raw emotion, and we do touch on the
mental side of things when it comes to everyone, not just fighters
and athletes, anyone in general.” Volkanovski said. “I think that
it’s good for awareness. I think these are conversations people
should be having.”