Alexander Volkanovski was primed for double-champ status at UFC 284.
But unfortunately for the UFC featherweight champion, his legacy-filled dream wouldn’t become a reality as the lightweight belt remained with Islam Makhachev, who won by unanimous decision.
Volkanovski Says Lightweight Crown Was ‘Taken Away’ From Him
Of course, this verdict didn’t come without controversy as many believed ‘The Great’ had won three rounds out of five. Volkanovski also thought he had done enough to hear the words: ‘And New! Lightweight Champion of the world…’ in his homecoming.
“Me moving up, challenging myself, [I] wanted to have my moment in Australia,” Volkanovski said on Impaulsive. “Haven’t been in Australia for how long, haven’t defended the belt [in Australia]. And then have a fight like that and then finish like I did, and then think like, ‘we’re gonna have this f*cking moment’, right? Like, let’s do it, ready for it. And just taken away from me. So I was pretty f*cking disappointed with that.”
“Losing sucks. My stocks wouldn’t have declined from that, obviously everyone still thought I won and everyone was like congratulating me, which was, I was like sitting there going, ‘I f*cking lost, what do you mean?’ [They’re like], ‘yeah, but that’s bullsh*t’. So, it was tricky, but it did make it easier, the fact that it was so close.”
Volkanovski Vows Makhachev Rematch Will Come
While Volkanovski has no love for the UFC 284 judges, he does believe this setback will make his story all the more interesting — especially if a rematch with Makhachev materializes down the line. For Volkanovski, that’s not a matter of ‘if’ though, it’s ‘when’.
“We’re probably gonna do the rematch anyway,” Volkanovski continued. “So, that’s what makes it easy for me. It just adds to the story. Move on, you’ve gotta move forward, right? Obviously it sucks, but I’ll get the rematch, I’ll win, and then we’ll make a bigger fight, a bigger ending to that story anyway.”
The Islam Makhachev rubber match will have to wait as Alexander Volkanovski’s next chapter comes in the form of Yair Rodriguez in a title unification bout at UFC 290 on July 8th.
