Alexander Volkanovski has established himself as one of the greatest featherweights of all time. Volk has been one of the most active champions in the history of the UFC. On December 14, 2019, he won the featherweight championship against Max Holloway and since then he has defended the title five times. Volkanovksi has a great MMA record of 26-2-0 and he is looking to avenge his only loss in UFC against Islam Makhachev.
Volkanovski recently uploaded a video titled, “The Rematch” on his YouTube channel where he discussed his short-notice match at UFC 294. Among various topics, he talked about being very heavy when he got the call for the match. “Weight’s good now but I think it was 82kg on Monday,” said the featherweight champion.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL 😱
Charles Oliveira is out of next Saturday’s #UFC294 main event, @AlexVolkanovski is replacing in a rematch for the Lightweight title with @MakhachevMMA
[ @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/zR3Nlqzl7P
— UFC (@ufc) October 11, 2023
“Tuesday, when I got the phone call, Ash rang me up and asked me my weight. I sort of laughed at the start thinking, just yesterday it was 82 kg but it was already 79kg,” said Volkanovski. Furthermore, Volk claimed that with just a bit of dieting and multiple rounds of training, he was able to get his weight to 77kg by last Thursday. “From the last couple of days, I have been 77kg and I’m even 76 kg today,” said Volk in the video uploaded on October 17, 2023.
Islam Makhachev should be a little worried about Volk’s determination and preparation. Not only is he on point with his weight but he’s also breaking records in his gym. “I went from Tuesday finding out to Wednesday breaking records on my jump machine,” said Volkanovski.
Apart from Craig Jones, Alex Volkanovski is also training with gi and no gi world champ Thalison Soares to prep his ground game against Islam Makhachev. pic.twitter.com/q2rlhLnapb
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) October 16, 2023
Although he just had twelve days to cut weight, he is already making great progress. Given that he fights in the featherweight division, this weight cut will not be as bad as the featherweight one.
Alexander Volkanovski believes that he cannot be submitted at UFC 294
In the first episode of the UFC 294 Embedded series, Alexander Volkanovski speaks about his growth from the first match against Islam Makhachev. “I’m growing every single time, experience, confidence,” said Volkanovski. Furthermore, Volk made a claim that it would be impossible for Islam to take him down in the rematch.
“I’m impossible to get down and hold down, you know what I mean? It is impossible for me to be submitted,” said Alexander Volkanovski. We have seen his resilience against submission when he survived multiple submission attempts from Brian Ortega. Furthermore, in their first match, he avoided a rear-naked choke from Islam.
One of the best title rounds you’ll EVER see 🤯#OnThisDay two years ago, @AlexVolkanovski showed the heart of a champion 🏆 pic.twitter.com/nHRCAjB7fw
— UFC (@ufc) September 25, 2023
If Volkanovski can stuff the takedowns, it would be really bad for Islam Makhachev. Let’s see if Volk can do the unthinkable at UFC 294.