"Legacy fight for me" - Alexander Volkanovski not fighting Max Holloway a third time to "shut people up"
Alexander Volkanovski claimed that he agreed to fight Max Holloway for the third time, not because he wanted to prove his doubters wrong.
The Australian UFC featherweight champion revealed that, for him, the upcoming trilogy against Holloway is about one thing and one thing only – adding to his already illustrious legacy.
During a joint press conference with Israel Adesanya and Kai Kara-France, the No.2-ranked UFC pound-for-pound fighter was asked if his motivation was to finally silence the critics. While he admitted that that was initially what drove him to accept the fight, Volkanovski revealed that he's going into UFC 276 with a new perspective:
"They've quieted down a little bit so that's all good, but I don't care. That's what I've said. I don't care about that now. That's not why I took this fight. It wasn't just to shut those guys up. I did originally want this trilogy to shut people up, but right now, it's not about that. This fight is gonna be a legacy fight for me. And you know, you're gonna have haters no matter what you do."
Check out Alexander Volkanovski's comments below:
Volkanovski, of course, already owns two decision victories over Holloway. Given how close both fights were, however, the Hawaiian-born superstar was given a third opportunity against 'The Great'.
Alexander Volkanovski's coach says Max Holloway trilogy will be "nothing like the second fight"
Eugene Bareman believes the upcoming fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway will be a departure from their most recent bout.
The City Kickboxing head coach admitted that Holloway did a tremendous job making tactical adjustments in the rematch after Volkanovski overwhelmed him during their initial encounter.
However, Bareman pointed out that the reigning featherweight champion is also capable of implementing key strategic changes, vowing that Volkanovski will do exactly that come fight night. He told Submission Radio:
"This fight is gonna be nothing like the second fight. Alex kind of played different chess moves that he used in the first fight. Max came back with a really good strategy and some really good tactics. And now the ball has kind of swung back towards [us], you know. Max is kicking off now but we're gonna get the ball. So now it's up to us and what we do."
Watch Eugene Bareman's interview below: