UFC lightweight makes 'Nelly' and 'ringworm' reference following Alexander Volkanovski's unique band-aid at UFC 290 weigh-ins
This weekend at UFC 290, Alexander Volkanovski will attempt to defend his featherweight title for the fourth time when he faces interim titleholder Yair Rodriguez.
The bout has been in the making since February at UFC 284. ‘El Pantera’ claimed the interim title on the same night that Volkanovski narrowly failed to become a double champion, losing to lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev.
Earlier today, both ‘Alexander the Great’ and Rodriguez made weight for their fight tomorrow night, with the Mexican hitting 145lbs and Volkanovski coming in even lighter at 144.5lbs.
First to the scale for weigh-ins!
Featherweight champ @AlexVolkanovski in at 144.5lbs for #UFC290 tomorrow 💪 https://t.co/peBFpsZlxK
Much of the focus at the weigh-in, though, landed on Volkanovski’s appearance. While the Australian looked to be healthy despite his weight cut, he was sporting a plaster on his right cheek that appeared to show a UFC title belt.
This wasn’t missed by current UFC lightweight contender Terrance McKinney. He took to his Twitter feed to poke fun at ‘Alexander the Great’, going as far as comparing him to rapper Nelly, who was famed for wearing a similar band-aid on his face.
“Yo volk thinks he’s Nelly or something or that ringworm on his cheek lmfao”
Yo volk thinks he’s Nelly or something or that ringworm on his cheek lmfao
There has been no word on exactly why Alexander Volkanovski wore the plaster, although it has been reported that the Australian suffered a cut during his final days of preparation. The plaster was noticeable on the most recent episode of UFC 290: Embedded.
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez: Who has Volkanovski set his sights on next?
Alexander Volkanovski is all set to defend his featherweight crown against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290, but if he wins, who might be next for the Australian?
In a recent interview with Bleacher Report, ‘Alexander the Great’ named three possible opponents who might interest him if he were to get past ‘El Pantera’:
“Obviously, fighting Max [Holloway] three times, you’re like, ‘I’m over that story’. I think that’s a hard fight to sell to be quite honest, but with the other two – Ilia [Topuria], people are talking him up, he trash talks. That excites me. That’ll be fun, but then you’ve got Aljamain [Sterling] who’s doing great things in his division. If he was to take out Sean O’Malley, he definitely deserves to step up. He’s defended his belt four times so he has every right to want to move up and take a chance at that featherweight strap. They both excite me.”
Either way, Alexander Volkanovski needs to get past Yair Rodriguez this weekend before any of these potential opponents come into his firing line.