"No one is on my level in this division" - Alexander Volkanovski on what he wants to show through Max Holloway trilogy fight
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has outlined what he plans to prove via his trilogy fight against longtime rival Max Holloway. Volkanovski captured the featherweight title by beating Holloway via unanimous decision in December 2019.
Following this, ‘The Great’ defended his title via split decision in a rematch against Holloway in July 2020. Both fights were competitive. Their rematch, in particular, was a fight that many believe Holloway deserved to win on the judges’ scorecards.
In a video on UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, Volkanovski suggested that he aims to dominantly defeat Holloway in their third fight. He intends to take ‘Blessed’ out, end their rivalry, and show that he’s “on a whole another level” compared to other featherweights. Volkanovski stated:
“You talking about rankings or whatever it is, money, paychecks, everything – that puts you right up there. Legacy, that really helps with the legacy. So, this is why this fight is massive to me still because again, the last two fights were competitive. And yeah, I wanna go out there and not make it so competitive."
"I wanna go out there, obviously, I’m expecting it to be a competitive fight, but, because you always gotta mentally prepare for that. But, I mean, I’m in good nick, and I’m expecting to go out there and really show that no one is on my level in this division.”
Watch Volkanovski discuss the topic at 15:00 in the video below:
Dana White on Alexander Volkanovski potentially fighting for the lightweight title after UFC 276
UFC featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski will defend his belt against Max Holloway at UFC 276 on July 2nd. Volkanovski has lately been hinting that after defeating Holloway at UFC 276, he could try to achieve ‘champ-champ’ status by moving up and capturing the UFC lightweight title.
Speaking to The Mac Life, Dana White recently addressed the possibility of Volkanovski pursuing ‘champ-champ’ status. The UFC president noted that he’d support whatever decision Alexander Volkanovski makes. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that Volkanovski must first beat Holloway at UFC 276. White said:
“So, Volkanovski is one of those guys who has earned the respect of everybody, I would say, by now. You know, he’s got this Holloway fight that probably makes sense for him to do this and put this behind him. Then you don’t have to hear about it anymore, and that guy can do whatever he wants to do. I mean, if he wants to move up and challenge somebody at ’55 or whatever he wants to do, I’m down for whatever he wants.”
Watch White’s interview in the video below: