Alexander Volkanovski has opened up with his issues with his discipline issues before UFC 294. His second fight against his fight against Islam Makhachev ended with an unfavourable ending and Volkanovski has opened up about his failures leading up to the fight.
Alexander Volkanovski is back! With UFC 298 around the corner, Volkanovski is nearing the end of his preparation of his fight against Ilia Topuria. However, one fight that is hanging over the arguable featherweight GOAT Volkanovski’s head is his most recent loss. At UFC 294, Volkanovski lost to Islam Makhachev via a first round knockout. This was a heart breaking loss for Alexander as this has ruined his chance to become lightweight champion while Islam Makhachev is champion. It also meant that Makhachev is has two wins over Volkanovski.
In his defence, Alexander Volkanovski did choose to fight on 11 days notice after Charles Oliveira pulled out due to injury from the fight. However, Volkanovski has admitted that his preparation for UFC 294 wasn’t the greatest.
Alexander Volkanovski Opens Up About His Alcohol Issues Before UFC 294
In an interview with Israel Adesanya’s brother on the FreestyleBender channel, Alexander Volkanovski opened up on his disciplinary issued ahead of UFC 294. ‘I’m known for being disciplined all year round, 24/7 and I just wasn’t that time. I was really disappointed. I was more upset with who I was in the previous months leading up to that. To be honest, it made it a little easier because it snapped me out of it. It snapped me out of it, I was drinking every day for like three to four weeks.’
He continued, ‘Honestly, that’s unheard of for me. Like(drinking) every day. I’ve never, ever done that. But I was like ‘ah, I’m not training much,’ and the surgery and just trying to help around the house I was like ‘All right, I’ll have a couple of drinks here, they’ll go down good,’ you know what I mean? It was going down too good. Every day I went back to the cans with the fam and come back and even then I was like ‘Man this has to stop’.’
‘I was saying that even the day before I got the call, I was (183) pounds that day. I went to my strength and conditioning coach, and we did some tests and I stood on the scale, and I was 83 (kilograms). All the boys in the gym were laughing. I’ve never been that heavy.’
Volkanovski continued with his mindset when he got the call to fight Islam Makhachev. ‘I was like, ‘Let’s do it, I need to snap out of this little rut that I’m in.’ This is exciting, this is the challenge, and this is something I need right now. So I was just a little disappointed that time. Losing is always going to suck, but you lose to a fighter like Islam, it’s OK. I know I can beat him. I’ve proven that, but he caught me. All credit to him. I’m not taking anything away from him. He set up that kick and there is not much I can I say. I was just disappointed with the guy I was leading up to that.’
Volkanovski vs Topuria
With the lead up for UFC 298 underway, Alexander Volkanovski knows he can’t make any mistakes to his training now. His fight with Ilia Topuria is not some ambitious grab for the lightweight title but rather a defence of his legacy at flyweight. Volkanovski also had some choice words for Topuria ahead of their clash at UFC 298. ‘He’s already acting like he’s the champion and thinks he is this. He literally thinks he’s some superstar already. Oh mate, that all changes Feb 17th and he’s gonna have a rude shock. He’s gonna have have to literally eat a big humble pie and I get to do that. It’s perfect to my storyline right now.’
Quotes via MMA Insight
While Alexander Volkanovski is coming of a loss against Makhachev, Ilia Topuria is a different story. Topuria is yet to lose in professional MMA with a perfect 14-0-0 record. With extremely dominant wins over Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmet, showing off his incredible skillset in both, Topuria sure will be a severe issue for Alexander ‘The Great’. However, nothing is to big a challenge for the man that escaped the submissions of Brian Ortega, beat Max Holloway on the feet three times and placed himself as the featherweight GOAT over Jose Aldo. Who do you think will win at UFC 298? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
