Alexander Volkanovski chokes up on being welcomed back by traditional warrior dance and his daughters at the airport
Following a heartbreaking end to UFC 294, Alexander Volkanovski returned home, and in a wholesome sequence of events, was greeted by a traditional haka dance, as well as his family.
The outpouring of support caught the featherweight champion by surprise, making him emotional. He responded to the gesture by saying:
"That was a surprise. I had no idea. I was walking out and I've seen a few of my buddies and i was like wait a second, is that? So, caught me by surprise. I choked up a little bit coming down."
Check out the clip here:
Alexander Volkanovski stepped in on short notice to replace Charles Oliveira in the UFC 294 main event. This meant that he would get a second shot at Islam Makhachev and the 155 lbs title.
Unfortunately for 'The Great' he fell short and was finished by Makhachev in the very first round. Makhachev landed a head kick and followed up with strikes in brutal fashion to seal the deal.
After the defeat, it's unlikely that Volkanovski will get another shot at the lightweight belt and so, his dreams of being a double champion will have to be shelved, at least for the foreseeable future.
Alexander Volkanovski details struggles prior to UFC 294 main event
Understandably, Volkanovski was very upset after the fight and expressed so in his post-fight press conference. Speaking to the media after his defeat, he outlined his reasoning for accepting the bout on short notice, which, in hindsight, may have been a mistake.
At the UFC 294 post-fight press conference, Alexander Volkanovski said:
"A lot of people will say it's for money and all that. But you know it was much more than that. Like it's hard, it really is hard for athletes (chokes up). I never thought I'd struggle with it, for some reason when I wasn't fighting or in camp, I was just doing my head in. I needed a fight. This opportunity came up and I'll be honest, I wasn't training as much as I should have, but I thought I had to you know, I had to do it. I had to take it. I was telling myself it was meant to be. I was struggling, I was doing my head in."