If there were any Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski doubters left before he fought Brian Ortega, they’ve been very quiet since. The featherweight champ secured a dominant decision victory over Brian Ortega, but there came a point in the third round where many, including the champ himself, thought he was about to lose the belt.
Brain Ortega rocked Volkanovski with a punch to the head, and launched into a vicious guillotine choke that felt as deep as it looked.
How Champ Alex Volkanovski Escaped an Ortega Guillotine to “Make Him Pay”
“”It was tight, it was deep,” Volkanovski told ESPN. “The space I was trying to make, I usually make that space before he’s anywhere near that deep. But credit to him and how quickly he can wrap up the neck and legs, suck his hips right in on your belly. The grips he has, the arch he’s got, the hips are in, the legs where they are positioned and locking my arms.”
Volkanovski continued, explaining how he escaped what looked like a premature end to his time as featherweight champ. “I felt it, it went from almost going different colors and slowing down to like, sh*t, this blood choke’s deep!
And I’m going to be honest, I could sit here and be like ‘ahh, I was never in trouble’, but that’s not me, I’ve got to be real here. It was close, and it was like ‘oh sh*t, things are starting to change, this must mean that I’m close to going out’.
So that just made me think ‘f*ck this, I’m doing something’. So I ended up pulling on that arm and shifting it, I made a little bit of space and then everything cleared up and I’m like ‘alright, I’m back’.And I ended up just getting my chin in.”
Once he was out of the choke, it was payback time. “That’s when you start talking about that alpha dog [mentality]; I can’t let him get one up on me, I’ve got to get that payback.
The competitor side of me was like ‘he had me in this position, I’m going to make him pay’. And then me using my brain and thinking he would be gassed from that. 100% he put everything into that. He used legs, hips, core strength, arm strength, and it was in the deepest position and was trying so hard on it.
But it guaranteed he was gassed. “So once I turned I knew that I was just going to rain down bombs on him. I got a bit overzealous and, me, punching him in the face, obviously doing damage. But he’s got quite a chin, he probably used that [time] to get his breath back.”
It’s rare to hear a fighter admit how close they came to losing a title, but Alexander Volkanovski is a rare fighter. Did you think it was all over when Ortega locked the choke in? Let us know in the comments.
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