Jeremy Kennedy praises training partner Alexander Volkanovski for history-making win at UFC 314
Alexander Volkanovski made history to become the first UFC fighter 35 or older to win a title at 155 pounds and lighter at UFC 314. This inspiring effort against Diego Lopes in Miami was something that ended up going according to plan, per one of Volkanovski's training partners.
Jeremy Kennedy appeared on MMA Canada to cover several subjects ahead of his rematch against Adam Borics on June 12 inside the PFL smart cage. As he expounded upon what he described as a 'great' performance from Alexander Volkanovski, Kennedy said:
"I trained with him [Volkanovski] for part of that camp out in Thailand. I had a feeling he was going to win and it was going to go very similar to that way. Stylistically, I just think he's [Volk's] just a lot better than [Diego] Lopes would [be] in a five round fight. He's fought lots of five-round fights. He knows how to fight them and he knows how to stick to a gameplan."
He added:
"That's kind of how the fight [played out]. I'm just happy for him. I think the landscape of the division, he's still gonna be up there for a little bit I think. You've got Movsar [Evloev]. Yeah, man, he's right in there. With [Ilia] Topuria gone, that really like opens up the division again for a lot of these guys. So I'm curious to see how this whole thing plays out."
Check out Jeremy Kennedy's thoughts below (7:03):
Alexander Volkanovski and the time he fought Jeremy Kennedy
Alexander Volkanovski has been a training partner for Jeremy Kennedy in more recent years, but there was a time when the two men fought inside the octagon. In February 2018, Kennedy and Volkanovski clashed on the preliminary portion of the UFC 221 card headlined by Yoel Romero vs. Luke Rockhold.
Volkanovski earned a knockout victory over Kennedy in the second round. This was Volk's fourth straight win inside the octagon, while that fight marked Kennedy's first-ever professional loss.
The duo was supposed to have fought previously at UFC Fight Night 121 before the latter had to pull out. Jeremy Kennedy's injury did scrap that November 2017 booking, but they were eventually able to get into the cage and test skills.