It appears to be all systems go for Alexander
Volkanovski as he begins preparations to face Ilia
Topuria in the UFC 298 main event on Feb. 17.
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The UFC featherweight champion revealed in a post on his YouTube
channel that he has begun sparring after clearing concussion
protocols. Volkanovski suffered a head-kick knockout loss to
Islam
Makhachev in a lightweight title bout at UFC 294 on Oct. 21.
The City Kickboxing standout lobbied for a quick turnaround in the
aftermath of the defeat, which raised concerns that he might be
coming back too quickly.
“Just had my first spar,” Volkanovski said. “So, obviously had to
follow all the protocols, concussion, back to training. So,
followed all the protocols to a tee, no symptoms, kept it rolling,
kept it rolling. Felt real good. No knocks, no symptoms still. So,
we’re rolling. We’re going to keep this baby rolling. Very, very
happy with it.
“Very thankful for the team behind me … and all my training
partners … my doctors, as well, they’ve literally dealt with
thousands of concussions, so they made sure I followed [protocols]
to a tee. Mate, I feel great, was able to train the whole way
through, so I haven’t lost too much fitness, which is good. We’ve
still got plenty of time before we even get into camp. Now I get to
ease back into a full training schedule.”
Volkanovski will defend his featherweight crown against Topuria at
the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. “The Great” is undefeated
at 145 pounds in the Octagon, including a third-round TKO of
Yair
Rodriguez in his most recent belt defense at UFC 290 this past
July.