"Cost me a bit" - Alexander Volkanovski breaks silence post-UFC 294, explains how being a 'volume fighter' backfired
UFC featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski has reflected on his recent loss at UFC 294.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, 'The Great' discussed the superfight that took place on October 21 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Volkanvoski revealed that his 'high-volume' fighting style worked against him in the fight.
The Australian also shared how he failed to capitalize on the key moments in the UFC 294 headliner:
"Being that volume fighter that I usually am, cost me a bit in this fight. You could see, usually I throw a lot of volume and there's a purpose to that. It doesn't have to land but I usually like people fighting my fight. I don't really give them chances and time to set things up. I don't like to let people think and I let him do his things, I just stood in front of him, we're at a range that I wanted to fight at so I could be more dangerous, I knew I'd be in danger there. So, I did everything, I just could not pull the trigger," said Alexander Volkanovski.
Check out Volkanovski's comments from the 0:45 mark below:
Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev locked horns for the second time at UFC 294. Their first encounter ended in a unanimous decision victory for the Dagestani.
In the second fight, Makhachev took the fight out of the judges' hands and scored a spectacular first-round knockout to successfully defend his lightweight throne.
Alexander Volkanovski wants to make a quick turnaround after UFC 294
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski was originally expected to defend his throne against Ilia Topuria in January 2024. Things changed when Charles Oliveira dropped out of the UFC 294 main event due to an injury, resulting in 'The Great' stepping up on short notice to face Islam Makhachev.
Despite suffering a brutal knockout loss on October 21, Volkanovski still intends to quickly turn around and fight Topuria in January 2024. In his post-fight octagon interview with Daniel Cormier, the Australian said:
"I just wanna say to the UFC, please keep me busy. I don't do well when I'm not fighting. I needed to take this fight because I was doing my head in when I'm not fighting. Please keep me busy, I'm happy to go back in January."