Volkanovski Ready To Prove Doubters Wrong – ‘I Have Something To Prove’
Alexander Volkanovski had plenty to say in preparation for his UFC 314 fight on Saturday against Diego Lopes, as he addressed the media.
Volkanoski hopes to regain his featherweight belt, which he lost to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 in the fight before. He was knocked out in the second round, which ended his four-year stint as champion. It was also the first time he was stopped at the weight class. But since Topuria has moved up and vacated the belt, he has the opportunity to win the title back immediately. However, Lopes is no pushover. He enters into the fight on a five-fight win streak, having beaten Brian Ortega in his last fight. He is on the cusp of becoming a UFC star if he can give one of the sport’s all-time greats another loss.
Volk’s Mindset
“A lot of people are doubting me, but like usually, I’ll be a bit spiteful about it if that makes sense, but now I’m like going, ‘Yeah, I get why yous think that, but I’ma show yas. So, I still have that something to prove, but I’m not angry about it, if that makes sense. It’s like yeah, I’m gonna prove it to myself and I’m gonna prove it to the world.
“This is the leanest I’ve ever been. I really wanted to get my percentage body fat to be honest, I think it would definitely be the lowest it’s ever been. It’s 16 weeks of just hard camp and real discipline. Didn’t have a drop of alcohol the whole 16 weeks, not even a cheat meal. So, I guess you could say I went above and beyond.
“The work ethic is always there for me, right? The intensity in training. Physcially, I’m always putting it in. You’re never going to top that because I’m always topping it. I can’t go any harder than what I do. I’ve never been in this situation before. I’ve never come off such a big break. [And] I’ve never come off two losses. So, it’s definitely the biggest fight of my career.
“Everyone’s gonna go, ‘Oh, yeah, you’ve done enough.’ But I haven’t. I can do a lot more and it starts this weekend. It’s starts on Saturday with this new title reign. When you talk about legacy, it doesn’t get much bigger than this. The comeback is going to be real. This is s**t people write books about and movies about,” Volkanovski said
Full Card
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes
Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett
Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Pitbull
Bryce Michell vs. Jean Silva
Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes
Prelims
Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson
Yan Xiaonan vs. Virna Jandiroba
Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper
Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa
Early Prelims
Sedriques Dumas vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Sumudaerji vs. Mitch Raposo
Tresean Gore vs. Marco Tulio
Nora Cornolle vs. Hailey Cowan
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