"Disappointed" coach shares Alexander Volkanovski's first words after UFC 298 KO, talks Mark Zuckerberg's corner involvement
Coach Joe Lopez recently opened up about Alexander Volkanovski losing the UFC featherweight championship to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 and revealed what his star pupil said to him immediately after the loss.
Volkanovski is widely considered among the greatest champions to have stepped inside the UFC octagon and won the 145-pound title by beating Max Holloway via unanimous decision at UFC 245 in December 2019. He defended his crown five times before losing it to Topuria via second-round knockout last weekend at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Despite losing the championship, 'The Great' appeared calm and composed in the aftermath. In a recent interview with Daily Mail Australia, Volkanovski's head coach spoke about being "disappointed" by the loss and stated:
"Alex was going through the game plan, was finding his range and starting to touch him up. I was disappointed [by the result], knowing that Alex has a much better skill set."
He then revealed Volkanovski's first words after waking up. 'The Great' asked:
"What happened?"
One of the highlights of the evening was Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg walking down to the octagon with Volkanovski as part of his corner team. The two share a close relationship and have trained together on several occasions.
Lopez seemingly didn't mind the tech billionaire walking out with his star student and said:
"He's just another person. No big deal to me anyway." [H/T DailyMail.co.uk]
Ilia Topuria on facing Alexander Volkanovski in a potential rematch
After his momentous title victory over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, Ilia Topuria shared his thoughts on fighting the Australian again in a rematch. It's worth noting that 'El Matador' previously dismissed the idea of giving the 145-pound division's top-ranked contenders a title shot.
At the UFC 298 post-fight press conference, Topuria reiterated his intention not to give elite featherweights any chance of fighting for the belt. However, the Georgian-Spanish fighter revealed that he was open to a rematch against Volkanovski and said:
"To be honest, at this point I'm like, 'Okay I'm going to give him the rematch because he's a good person.' But at the same time, it's time to move on. It's time to clean up the division a little bit. It's time for the new generation, to have new challenges [and] new faces. I will be looking for that."
Catch Ilia Topuria's comments below (2:28):