Over the past few months, the UFC has had to cancel high profile events a number of times. In such cases, a fighter that has stepped in or offered to step in on short notice multiple times is Alexander Volkanovski. The former champion likes to stay active and urged the UFC to keep him as active as possible. Therefore, naturally when the UFC 303 main event fell apart, Volkanovski offered his services to the UFC. The UFC however, had other ideas.
In a recent video posted on his channel, Volkanovski confirmed that he did indeed throw his name in the hat to replace Conor McGregor. Till now it was just rumours that ‘The Great’ had offered to step in but it has now been confirmed from the horse’s mouth itself. In the video posted he said,
“So I was like hey, If you need someone, you know a guy. I did put my hand up, obviously seen that some people put that up so it got out there. Some people think I am mad but I am back into training now and I am excited to get back in there. That’s all it takes, just a little thing like that and I put my hand up.”
Unfortunately, ‘The Great’ did not get a call back. After his KO loss against Ilia Topuria, Volkanovski said that he would be taking time away from the sport to rest, recover and get his head back into the game.
So the UFC probably did not take him up on his offer as they wanted to give him more time to recover. While he was sad about missing out on the event, Volk also lauded the UFC for putting his health ahead of everything else.
That said, when can fans expect the former champion to show up and fight?
Alexander Volkanovksi to return to action before the end of the year?
‘The Great’ last competed in February this year where he succumbed to a brutal knockout loss by Ilia Topuria. In the video, the former champion confirmed that he had just gotten back to training which means that he most likely had around three months to rest and recover.
This was just months after Islam Makhachev had finished him off with a brutal headkick KO. And no matter who you are, getting KOed that badly twice in a span of months can’t have been great for your health.
View this post on Instagram
But given that he was ready to jump back in suggests that Volkanovski is injury free and ready to go. Therefore, fans can expect ‘The Great’ to be back in action before the end of this year.
A rematch against Brian Ortega if he gets past Diego Lopes, a flight against Aljamain Sterling or Movsar Evloev are a few options for the former champion. Or perhaps, he wants his pound of flesh against Ilia Topuria.
