Ahead of UFC 304, former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski was joined by Michael Bisping and Michael ‘Venom’ Page for a Q&A session with fans. And as such fan interactions often do, it got a bit disrespectful. However, Volkanovski being the classy individual he is, let it slide with poise and humor.
‘The Great’ has been extremely active in all media duties leading up to this weekend’s fight night. He even offered to step in at short notice if either one of the main event fighters were not able to make it.
Ever the company man, ‘Volk’ was on stage interacting with fans when a troll then took the microphone and asked ‘The Great’ how it felt to be knocked out via a head kick in the fight with Islam Makhachev.
The 35-year-old straight up resorted to the joke about people forgetting everything after being knocked out and said,
“It felt real good. What head kick? I do not remember a thing. What happened?”
How to deal with trolls: @alexvolkanovski edition pic.twitter.com/dEzjWQj1yB
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) July 26, 2024
For the unversed, the first fight between ‘The Great’ and Makhachev was extremely close. At the end it was Makhachev who took the decision win even as many fans as well as pundits felt ‘Volk’ had done enough to secure the lightweight title.
However, in the rematch, the Australian fighter’s fans were left stunned after he was knocked out for the first time in his UFC career.
Interestingly, this was the second loss in his professional career, the first one also being via a head kick knockout. This forced Volk to take a back seat and heal up, both mentally and physically before considering a return to in-ring action.
So after taking a break from the sport, ‘The Great’ is now getting back into training and has his sights set on an upcoming title fight.
Volkanovski offers his services as back up for Holloway vs Topuria
During one of the interviews during fight week, the Australian fighter shared his thoughts on the rumored fight between Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria.
For starters, ‘The Great’ dismissed the notion being pushed forth by Topuria stating that the UFC forced Holloway to accept the fight.
He then went on to state that he will be training extremely hard in the coming months and that if the UFC needed a replacement at short notice he would be more than willing to step in. This might be a controversial decision since the last time he did so, it ended up with him unconscious.
But this is of course, a ‘What if’ situation.
As of right now, the former champion is content with making his prediction for the fight known. He has stated that Holloway had what it takes to dethrone Topuria and become the featherweight champion once again and that is a stance few will have disputes with.
