- Alexander Volkanovski commended Yair Rodriguez for giving him a tough fight
- The featherweight champ remains locked in on a rematch with Islam Makhachev
- “The Great” revealed his real thoughts on Ilia Topuria
Alexander Volkanovski proved that no other featherweight could rule the division but him after he finished Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290. As expected, “The Great” addressed a few important things following his victory, including his plan to rematch Islam Makhachev and thoughts on Ilia Topuria.
Yair was Tough
Speaking to the media in his UFC 290 post-fight press conference, Volk admitted that Rodriguez pushed him to the limit like Max Holloway as far as feeding his mind with the right mentality to win.
“He was dangerous like that was probably the most feed I’ve ever been in a fight, maybe like him and maybe Max [Holloway]. This was because I always say no one can beat me, no one can actually beat me I don’t believe anyone can beat me but everyone has a bunch of chance, everyone can catch you and there’s no one that’s more dangerous and got a better chance of doing that than your Yair Rodriguez,” Volkanovski explained.
Islam is Next
Volkanovski almost made history at UFC 284 but Makhachev spoiled it by beating him via a unanimous decision win. Unsurprisingly, “The Great” reiterated that he still wants to run it back with Makhachev as he believes it’s also the fight people want to see in this UFC era.
“We all know I want that lightweight belt. We all know I want that rematch. I want that Islam fight. I think not only for me to get that belt, to get that win back but I think it is a massive fight for the UFC as well,” Volkanovski stated.
“I think it’s a fight everyone wants to see. It was literally that type of fight. It was that close. It was a cracking fight. Everyone enjoyed it. It was very, very high-level. It was 1 and 2 [pound-for-pound fighters] going at it. We showed out, it really was that. He lived up to the hype. I lived up to the hype and that fight lived up to the hype. We just need to see [the rounds] 5 to 10,” he added.
Ilia will have his Time
One of the most notable highlights of Volkanovski’s UFC 290 win was his epic face-off with undefeated lightweight contender Ilia Topuria. Fans in attendance were stunned but for Volk, “El Matador” is as easy as a walk in the park and his time will come.
“[I told him] Nothing, I just went there and told him, ‘Come on jump over, let’s do a little face-off, let’s amp it up a little bit. See you soon,” Volkanovski revealed.
“It’s funny… You want to talk up your opponents, right? I mean, he’s going talk his sh*t, I can say whatever I want to, you know, people don’t have to believe it,” he added. “But… maybe I shouldn’t say how easy I think that fight is going to be because then people might not be interested, but he’s going to talk his sh*t, and people are going to want to see me punch him in the face, so it don’t matter,” Volkanovski continued. “I look at that as again, no disrespect to the bloke, but the sh*t he is doing ain’t going to work on me, and hopefully, you’ll get to see that soon.”
What lies ahead of Volkanovski is yet to be determined but UFC president Dana White has already hinted at being open to considering what “The Great” would like to happen next.
