MMAFighting<\/a>):<\/p>\n\u201cNo disrespect to them, but that\u2019s why this fight is so big to me. It\u2019s the Dagestani wrestling, no one can figure this out, they\u2019re on a roll and all that. Khabib\u2019s there. Islam, what he\u2019s been doing his last few fights. All that. I was chasing the champ-champ, that\u2019s what motivated me before I knew who I was fighting. As soon as Islam won and the people talked, something was just like, bang, that\u2019s all that I cared about is taking out Islam.”<\/em><\/p>\nIslam Makhachev is a longtime teammate and friend of UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA) who retired in 2021.<\/p>\n
Continuing, Alex Volkanovski said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t even disrespect. All that stuff just made this fight so much bigger. Me accomplishing this goal \u2014 not only the champ-champ, it\u2019s obviously going to be incredible, having two belts \u2014 but not just that. It\u2019s, while doing that, taking out someone like Islam. Especially being a featherweight going to move up to lightweight, then fighting not only any lightweight, you\u2019re going to Dagestani-wrestling Islam who\u2019s known to just walk and control and throw around all these lightweights. \u2018How\u2019s Alex going to deal with that?\u2019”<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cThis just makes when I get my hand raised, it just makes it so much bigger. So that\u2019s what\u2019s motivating me right now, the fight itself. It\u2019s going to be extra special getting both belts on them shoulders, but (also) who I\u2019m taking out in the process.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nSpeaking about preparing for the match-up Volkanovski continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I think this is going to be easy? No. Does it need a lot of preparation? Yeah, it does, definitely. It is a challenge. But just because it\u2019s a challenge, should I protect my record, protect this pound-for-pound spot, do all this? Nah.”<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cTake it on. It\u2019s going to make you a better fighter, and honestly, I\u2019ve still got under eight weeks left and I\u2019m already twice the fighter I was, just because of how I\u2019m taking this fight. I\u2019m stronger than I\u2019ve ever been.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nConcluding, Alex Volkanovski\u00a0spoke about his excitement concerning the challenge of facing Islam:<\/p>\n
Pound-for-pound and all that, it\u2019s really good, champ-champ. But I was really chasing him because you knock off your goals, what\u2019s next, what\u2019s next, the champ-champ\u2019s next, but as soon as it was Islam and people telling me – I love people doubting me.”<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cSeeing people, like, \u2018He\u2019s going to be too big, too strong,\u2019 and all this. The challenge, the opponent that I\u2019ve got, that excites me more. Going for this champ-champ and taking out someone like Islam is really what people are going to remember. A lot of people think he\u2019s unstoppable right now, but I\u2019m going to show you that he is stoppable and I can\u2019t wait to go out there and do my thing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nWill you be watching the Australian take on the Russian at UFC 284? Who do you think will capture the lightweight title?<\/p>\n
Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alex Volkanovski\u00a0is oozing confidence ahead of the Islam Makhachev title fight at UFC 284. UFC 284 takes place on February 12th, 2023, at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The much anticipated main event lightweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski (25-1 MMA) and Islam Makhachev (23-1 MMA) will see ‘The Great‘ perform in his home country. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54491,"featured_media":462883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[28618,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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