Alexander Volkanovski is pumped to meet Islam Makhachev in the UFC 284 on February 11th. Volkanovski recently expressed his thoughts on the upcoming high-octane fight.
Volkanovski has been a performer in many weight divisions, having fought in three different weight classes throughout his career: welterweight, lightweight, and featherweight. The Australian will now enter the octagon to face the defending lightweight champion after winning twelve consecutive UFC battles bouts. His most recent victories came in 2022 over Jung Chan-sung and Max Holloway.
#UFC284 Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski por el título de las 155 lbs y en la coestelar el mexicano 🇲🇽 Yair Rodriguez vs Josh Emmett por título interino de las 145 lbs para el sábado 11 de Febrero. pic.twitter.com/yzWcsgfDbX
— MasMMA.mx (@MasMMA_) January 2, 2023
The 34-year-old fighter recently spoke with The Allstar about various aspects of his career, including his next fight against Islam. Alexander made his plan to move from featherweight to lightweight crystal clear.
“Knowing that I’ve fought in so many different weight classes, and then with the Featherweight division, it definitely started being like alright, I need to move up at some point…When I was trying to find who’s the number one contender, that was happening where it was obviously fighting Max (Holloway) a few times, but there was never really a number one guy other than Max. So that made me start, maybe I’ll do this Lightweight thing, but you know it’s not time yet. I thought I had to wait until I thought I deserved it because that’s the kind of guy I am.”
Alexander Volkanovski "will not panic" if taken down by Islam Makhachev.
📰 https://t.co/kXEAEU3Xqy pic.twitter.com/77YvYarfgU
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 23, 2022
Later, the number one pound-for-pound fighter stated that he is confident in his capability to defeat Islam, the current number two pound-for-pound fighter. He believes he has trained hard enough to defeat anyone who crosses his path because this is how he has trained his entire life.
“I’ve always trained with bigger guys. Even when we used to train here in Thailand it was always me and the bigger guys. We used to have big guys and little guys train in groups… I would always sneak myself into the bigger area. I’ve always been a lot stronger than how I look and my size, so I always knew it (moving up) was something I wanted to do and could do.”
#AlexanderVolkanovski is ready with his gameplan against #IslamMakhachev!!💪🏼🔥#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/JPgNWXKmGn
— Sportsmanor (@sports_manor) January 2, 2023
Islam Makhachev, the current UFC lightweight champion, battled Charles Oliveira in his first title defense last October. Islam’s dominant triumph even compelled his opponent to praise him and accept the defeat without hesitation. Islam is also looking forward to his upcoming encounter with Volkanovski. However, the current featherweight champion is motivated enough to beat Makhachev.
”People aren’t doing what I’m doing, I believe that. That’s why I’m the guy that I am, I’m the champion I am and that’s why I don’t fold under any pressure.” The Aussie added.
Alexander may appear to be overly optimistic, but the winner from the RAC Arena in Perth will be unveiled only on the big day.
