Alexander
Volkanovski was aware of the risk and reward involved in taking
on a short-notice fight with lightweight champion Islam
Makhachev at
UFC 294.
Unfortunately for the UFC featherweight champion, his eagerness and
determination to continuously add accolades to his legacy seems to
have cost him this time around. Following a brutal Round 1 knockout
loss to Makhachev in their rematch at UFC 294, Volkanovski
reflected on his performance and discussed what led him to take on
the short-notice bout during the post-fight press conference.
“I don’t want to sit there and obviously make excuses,” Volkanovski
said. “You know what I mean? Obviously, I’m a big believer in
preparation and stuff like that. But I back myself, so that’s the
decision I made. You know what I mean? I’ve probably made
decisions… I could’ve made better decisions, but he’s not somebody
you should be taking a short notice with. But I needed it. A lot of
people will say it’s for the money and all that, but it was much
more than that. It was hard. It really is hard for athletes. Sorry.
… I never thought I’d struggle with it, but for some reason when I
wasn’t fighting or in camp, f—k, sorry. … I was just doing my head
in. I needed a fight.”
Despite the devastating loss, Volkanovski is eager to honor his
commitment to defend his featherweight title against Ilia
Topuria in January 2024.
“I need to be busy. Again, it’s just I think my purpose obviously
now is family and fighting,” he said. “When I’m not fighting, I
don’t feel like I’m ticking all the boxes. I need to be ticking all
the boxes. I don’t like wasting time.”