UFC featherweight champion Alexander “The Great” has always thrived on adversity. This month, he faces arguably his biggest challenge yet, when his quest to move up a weight class and capture a second title culminates at UFC 284, where he will face lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. Volkanovski told The MMA Hour that he’s expecting to get his hand raised at the end of the night, and wants to hear no excuses from Makhachev or his fans in the aftermath.
Volkanovski will enter the Octagon as a massive betting underdog despite the fight taking place on his home turf in Australia, which the featherweight champion is all good with.
Volkanovski Wants No Excuses From Makhachev After UFC 284
“I like it. I’m all good with it.Especially moving up and the lightweight title and all that type of stuff, and then fighting someone like this. Again, we want this for legacy.
I never used to talk like this. If you remember, I never talked about legacy fights and all this type of stuff, but now I’m all about it. Now I’m all for the big fights. I love the underdog story. I love being the underdog and people saying I’m undersized and all that type of stuff. It just adds to the story and it’s going to add to the victory.”
Volkanovski has long maintained that his goal is to join the hallowed ranks of the UFC’s two-division champions.
“There are going to be a lot of people that are going to doubt me, which I love, and all that type of stuff — ‘I’m undersized, he’s too good at the Dagestani wrestling,’ and all this type of stuff. That’s good. But just remember that. Remember that. Don’t change the narrative when I get my hand raised.
That’s something that I need people to understand, because it’s funny — people will sit there and say all this stuff. If something happens [and I win], ‘Oh yeah, [Makhachev] didn’t fight anybody. It was his first defense.’ All of a sudden they’re taking away the victory and acting like he isn’t that person that they said he was before the fight.
Just remember what you’re saying he is now. You’re putting him on that pedestal — keep him there even if I get my hand raised. Don’t change that bulls***.”
With that in mind, the revelation that Makhachev’s mentor, former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, won’t be in his corner on the night, makes no difference to Volkanovski.
“At the end of the day, Islam is a great fighter. He’s the one who’s going in there and doing his work, and Khabib will tell you that himself. So again, if my hand gets raised, don’t be [complaining].” Will UFC 284 go the way Volkanovski expects? Let us know in the comment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF9uIoWFKbY
