"You can still punch with a broken thumb" - Alexander Volkanovski's corner pushed the champion to pay no heed to mid-fight injury
![Eugene Bareman (left), Alexander Volkanovski (right) [Image courtesy of @mmafighting.net]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/07/760de-16569396616352-1920.jpg?w=500)
Alexander Volkanovski's coach Eugene Bareman shared details of the corner instructions during the featherweight champion's co-main event trilogy fight against Max Holloway at UFC 276. Post-fight, 'The Great' revealed his belief that he'd suffered a hand injury early, which his corner dismissed immediately.
Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3 was tipped to be another battle of the best featherweights on the planet. The Australian was 2-0 in the head-to-head between the pair, but both decisions were close, with many believing 'Blessed' had done enough for the nod in the rematch.
There was certainly no debate to be had this time, though. 'The Great' looked the best he ever has in the octagon, winning every round on each of the judges' scorecards.
Fans may not have picked up, however, that the featherweight champion believed he had a "broken thumb" after the second round. Eugene Bareman revealed to Submission Radio exactly what they told Volkanovski when they learned about his injury.
"I just leant into his head and said 'Don't mention that bloody hand again.' I said, 'We can't do nothing about it now, I don't want you to mention that again.' He knew what I meant, I meant evaporate completely out of your mind. Straight away Volk [Volkanovski] was like 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' We got our message across. There's nothing you can do about a broken thumb in the middle of a fight, it's a championship fight...You can still punch with a broken thumb."
Catch the full interview below:
Alexander Volkanovski extended his UFC winning streak to 12 and his featherweight title defense tally to four at UFC 276. The Australian believes he's cleared out the main challengers in the 145-pound division and is eyeing a move up to capture the lightweight title next.
Chael Sonnen believes Alexander Volkanovski should fight Khabib Nurmagomedov
Chael Sonnen believes a fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov is the only way to test the skill limit of featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
The Australian has a professional record of 25-1 and has been undefeated in the UFC since making his debut in 2016. Volkanovski's dominance at 145 lbs has meant the 33-year-old is now targeting a sensational move to lightweight, following in the footsteps of former featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
Alexander Volkanovski becomes the 4th fighter in UFC history to win his first 12 UFC fights (Also: Anderson Silva, Kamaru Usman, Khabib Nurmagomedov).
He becomes the 1st fighter in UFC history to beat the same opponent 3 times in title fights. https://t.co/UYxxCCesVp
In a YouTube video, Sonnen admitted that if Alexander Volkanovski is to make the move up to 155 lbs, there is no better opponent than the former king of that division, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“If we’re going to move him up to '55... we’re going to find out how good this son of a b**ch is. All right, great, put him in there with Khabib. Let’s just get this over with. Well, Khabib has taken down 100% of his opponents and nobody’s yet to take down Volkanovski... it gets interesting. They may not sell arenas, it may not be a massive business, but god***n, the question’s interesting. Where is this guy, how good is this guy?”
Sonnen believes it could be a meeting of an unstoppable force versus an immoveable object. Nurmagomedov secured takedowns in all of his UFC fights, whereas Volkanovski has 100% takedown defense.
Catch Chael Sonnen's latest YouTube video here:
Dana White fans can also check out this video made by Sportskeeda: