"That gives me a clear guy" - Alexander Volkanovski "more than okay with" the UFC creating an interim featherweight title
While featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has his sights set on lightweight gold, the UFC have already planned for his absence in the featherweight division.
UFC announced that No.2-ranked contender Yair Rodriguez will take on Josh Emmett, who is on a six-fight win streak, for the interim featherweight championship at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia.
Volkanovski was questioned at a recent press conference about the matchup and his thoughts on an interim title being created:
"Look, I'm okay with it. At the end of the day, I'm the champ. So that's that. So that gives me a clear guy, [and] what a card to do it on, you know what I mean? They get to show me who's next in that featherweight division, here in Australia as well. So, you know, that builds that fight up anyway. But I'm more than okay with it. Right now, I wanna chase that second belt, so I'm focusing on that."
'The Great' also outlined his future plans in the featherweight division.
"And then, we'll let them do their thing. Hopefully, put on a show, give me a clear guy, and then you know someone will be holding that interim belt and I'll be happy to take them on as soon as possible because I wanna be active, you know what I mean? And I don't want people waiting around for me and things like that, even though I don't think that they would need to. But I think this is good, I think this really sets up for my next fight in featherweight anyway, so I'm more than okay with it."
Catch Alexander Volkanovski's full comments in the video below:
Volkanovski on the UFC creating an interim FW title fight. https://t.co/6LBY3NED81
Alexander Volkanovski loves being the underdog against Islam Makhachev
After a dominant run at featherweight, Alexander Volkanovski will put his 22-fight unbeaten run on the line against newly crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev for his belt.
The matchup was teased immediately after Makhachev's convincing victory over Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, with the two divisional champs meeting inside the ring and publically agreeing to battle for top-dog status in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Soon after, the UFC announced the blockbuster matchup as the headliner for its UFC 284 card in Perth, Australia.
Alexander Volkanovski expressed being fueled by his underdog status against Makhachev in an interview ahead of UFC 281.
"I'm hoping people doubt me. 'Cause I love being the underdog. I'm sure I'm gonna be the underdog. Well, again, I hope. I can't wait to go out there and prove people wrong. Cause that just really fires me up."
Catch his full interview with Laura Sanko on YouTube: