"It was pretty embarrassing" - Alexander Volkanovski claims UFC commentary was biased against him during his rematch with Max Holloway
Alexander Volkanovski has proven to be one of the nicest fighters on the UFC roster. But that doesn't prevent the featherweight champion from calling out injustice when he sees it.
In a recent interview with ESPN, Volkanovski cried foul over the commentary of his rematch against Max Holloway at UFC 251. According to Volkanovski, the commentators were noticeably biased towards his opponent. The Australian fighter claimed:
"Dang, it's hard to watch that second Max [Holloway] fight with how bad they were. I need to say something to these guys because that is pretty, pretty bad. We just watched that and were laughing the whole time. Are they serious or what? It was incredible. Not that it wasn't close, but I mean, you're not helping my situation one bit. It was pretty embarrassing on their behalf."
Volkanovski did not specify which commentator he had an issue with. Michael Bisping and Jon Anik were the duo that made up the commentary booth for the main event. Star commentator Joe Rogan was absent for the pay-per-view as he doesn't work at UFC events outside the United States. UFC 251 took place at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Nonetheless, Volkanovski left the UAE the same way he arrived – as the reigning UFC featherweight champion. UFC 251 marked the second time he defeated Holloway in a razor-close contest. The judges scored the contest 47-48, 48-47, and 48-47 in favor of the Australian.
Watch Alexander Volkanovski's full interview with ESPN below:
Alexander Volkanovski's coach complains about Daniel Cormier's commentary
This isn't the first time Alexander Volkanovski's camp has complained about biased commentary. In a recent interview with ESPN, the Aussie champ claimed that the UFC 266 commentators – Daniel Cormier, Paul Felder, and Jon Anik – were rooting for Brian Ortega.
In another instance, Volkanovski's coach Eugene Bareman torched Cormier for allegedly being partial to Max Holloway at UFC 251. During an interview with Submission Radio, the City Kickboxing head coach said:
"The ultimate problem was, you had the fraternity against Volk [Alexander Volkanovski]... You had two chum-chum commentators, [Daniel] Cormier and [Max] Holloway, who I think, they used to be in a relationship or something back in the day. They're like ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend or something."
However, 'DC' reminded Bareman that he wasn't part of the UFC 251 broadcast team. Therefore, it appears that Bareman was referring to UFC 245. It's also unclear if Volkanovski might have confused his UFC 245 fight for UFC 251.
Check out Daniel Cormier's response to Alexander Volkanovski's camp: