Alexander Volkanovski ranked by ESPN as the best weightlifter in the world. He has never lost in the UFC, setting an impressive 12-0 record since his 2016 debut. The Australian has won 22 consecutive fights and has four successful title defenses as home. UFC featherweight champion.
However, despite all that eye-catching praise, Volkanovski will be the underdog +320 (via Caesars Sportsbook) as he moves forward to fight Islam Makhachev for the seventh UFC lightweight title in UFC 284 main event in Perth, Western Australia (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV).
Makhachev, a dominant wrestler from the Russian republic of Dagestan, will have a 4-inch height advantage and many believe he will also have a strength advantage over the featherweight champion. Makhachev is ranked ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound.
In the face of such a rare situation, ESPN’s Marc Raimondi asked Volkanovski to explain why he’s taking on the challenge, whether he considers himself the underdog and whether he believes he’s on par with him. like the opponent.
I used to play front row in rugby before starting MMA training. At 5 foot-6, I was always considered short. I might have been heavier then, but I was the shortest on the field. The little people who play rugby are still bigger than me.
You’ll see the other team’s big front rowers smirk as we’re in packs and scrums. I know the mountains of men I have to run to thinking to themselves, “Look at this guy’s size.”
The next minute, they couldn’t touch me. The next minute after that, they were all planning to try to slow me down because I was ruining their team. I am always underrated and I always prove the doubters wrong. It happens all the time. And it will happen on Saturday.
That’s when I, the UFC featherweight champion, moved up to the weight division to challenge Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title in the main event of UFC 284 in Perth, Western Australia. Yeah, he’s 5 feet 10 taller than me, and I’m about to move up in the weight class. But I’ve been there before.
Islam is a small child compared to the heavyweights I see in rugby league.
The smaller guys are like light heavyweights. Absolute monster. You’re going to say that a little bit will scare me? Are not. Is he good? That’s right. I’ll give him that respect, but I won’t back down and worry.
He’s going to be bigger than me, but people have gotten bigger all my life and that’s never been an issue. So I won’t let that be an issue now.
Some people have asked me why I do this. I’m the featherweight champion. I can be at 145 pounds and one opponent after another. I still plan to do it, but why not challenge myself?
I’m not doing this to say, “I’m a bad guy,” and whatever happens will happen. I’m doing this because I believe I’m going to win. And I really believe that. During the preparation, I believed in myself. And I want everyone — the underdog or the underdog, whoever that is — to believe in yourself, accept the challenge and challenge yourself. We should do this work every day of our lives. I’ve done that throughout my career. I did that very early on, and that’s what made me who I am.
1:11
Volkanovski takes on the business in a three-way war against Holloway
Alexander Volkanovski won all five rounds in front of the judges to retain the featherweight belt at UFC 276.
I was the #1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world. I don’t have to prove anything, but I’ll go there and show you why you gave me the #1 spot. There’s no better way to prove it than to go ahead and fight. Play against the next person below you in the leaderboard, the champion of the division above. You want to talk about pound for pound? I’m risking it all to show you that I deserve that #1 spot.
Yes, that is a challenge. But look at the rewards you get for participating in these challenges. Not only are you smart about your legacy and bankroll, but do you know how much better a fighter I would be because of this? Do you know what a better person I will become because of this?
I’ve improved my strength, takedown defense, and even my wrestling ability. I’ve done bodybuilding and strength programs, and it’s crazy how noticeable the changes are. I respect Islam, the team and their strength, so I knew I had to step up in that department. I knew I had to become stronger.
So I kept that in mind, and here’s the thought I got overnight. Because I knew I had to, my hips became stubborn in defense. Like now. My hips were like, “I took nothing.” That’s it. People who have wrestled with me before will not only feel the difference from the body shape, but feel that power immediately and say, “Oh, this is so different.”
I also worked a lot on wrestling and ground wrestling with the Hickman brothers, great trainers with specialized MMA wrestling knowledge who have coached City Kickboxing and Bangtao Muay Thai in Thailand, and Craig Jones, one of the best wrestlers in the world and a Brazilian jiu fighter. -jitsu expert. Jones studied these people from Dagestan to see what made them so good. And he was sitting there circling around to understand these positions, putting himself in these positions. And you have to remember, Craig Jones weighs between 210 and 220 pounds. It’s funny, because people say I need to watch out for Islam. Can you imagine what Craig Jones would do to a Muslim or these people? This is just another world when it comes to wrestling.
I think 2023 will be my year and I want to start off with a big bang. And there is no greater way to do it. I’m £1 and then you win the second belt. I don’t have the right to decide, but you will go from a great boxer to one of the greatest boxers of all time. You put yourself in that group of people where everyone says, “This person is doing things that other people aren’t doing.” I’m starting to separate from the rest. So this is huge.
I am glad that Islam is the opponent. I think Charles Oliveira would be an easier match. Islam is the opponent makes it bigger. This will cement my #1 spot in the pound — and no one can take that away from me. There’s no better way to prove it than to go out, raise your hand, grab another belt and take down Islam Makhachev, who is said to be so much bigger than me, so much stronger than me, an opponent. bad player for me.
Like I said, this is familiar to me. I’ve always been underrated — from rugby to MMA. And I always prove the skeptics wrong. Well, at first glance, they might be smirking. But that’s always changing, especially in the Octagon. It will happen again on Saturday when I become one champion two divisions before my Australian friends in Perth.
