"That's always a good story" - Alexander Volkanovski discusses goal of being first UFC fighter to defend their title successfully twice after losing
Alexander Volkanovski is all set to defend his title against the undefeated contender Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 298.
Ahead of the clash, 'The Great' made an appearance during the media day for the event. At one point, one journalist highlighted that Volkanovski was one of the only four fighters to successfully defend his title after suffering a defeat.
The person added that if the Australian gets his hand raised on Saturday, he would become the sole UFC athlete to defend his title twice after a loss.
Volkanovski responded to the possibility of creating that record by saying:
"That's always a good story... there's gotta be adversities, you know what I mean? That's why this is the perfect fight coming off what happened. Everyone's seen me at my lowest. Now I get to bounce back and fight this undefeated prospect... It's beautiful. It's perfect."
Check out Alexander Vokanovski's comments from the 1:08 mark below:
Volkanovski suffered his first UFC loss at UFC 284 when Islam Makhachev defeated him via unanimous decision in a razor-close five-round fight. 'The Great' bounced back from the defeat and went on to best Yair Rodriguez via third-round TKO at UFC 290.
The Australian was then again matched up against Makhachev for a rematch at UFC 294. This time, the Dagestani left no room for doubt and finished the featherweight champion via knockout in the first round.
It remains to be seen whether Volaknovski will be able to turn things around for the second time after a loss on Feb. 17.
Israel Adesanya weighs in on Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria at UFC 298
Former UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya has made his prediction for the UFC 298 main event between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, 'The Last Stylebender' broke down the fight from the card. In the main event, Adesanya picked 'The Great' to take home the victory via fourth-round knockout:
"Alexander 'The Great' Volkanovski. I'm going to go late stoppage, round four. Yeah, round four, KO or TKO. I think he's just going to exhaust him. It's different when you're in the championship rounds but you have Alexander Volkanovski in your face."
Check out his comments from the 12:44 mark below: