Volkanovski is all positivity coming into his short notice title fight against Islam Makhachev on October 21 in Abu Dhabi.
Alexander Volkanovski isn’t thinking about the downsides of a two-week notice title fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294. Instead, he’s concentrating on the advantages of getting to face Islam without a lot of the usual stress and pressures of a normal fight camp.
Volkanovski agreed to fight Makhachev after Charles Oliveira was forced to pull out of UFC 294 with a bad cut above his eye. It’s undoubtedly the Australian’s last kick at the lightweight championship can so long as Makhachev holds the belt. If that stresses Alex out, he’s not showing it.
“Everyone points out all the cons, and there’s a lot of them, but there’s definitely pros at the fact it’s such short notice,” Volkanovski said in a new interview with ESPN. “The fact that I’m fresh, mentally and physically, is going to be unreal. I haven’t had the pressure all camp. I haven’t had the pressure of going through all these game plans.”
“Fighting is the easy part. I get to go out there and literally do this easy, fun part.”
“Preparation, it ain’t fun,” he added. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m disciplined, I’m going to do it. If you see me train during camp, that’s hard work. But I didn’t have to drain myself with all of these injuries. I get to go out there with not a mark on me, fresh as a daisy.”
“I’ve never had such a clear vision to what I’m going to do in there,” Volkanovski continued. “Which seems weird because I’ve had such a short amount of time. [In other fights] I’m preparing for the worst. I don’t have time to prepare for the worst and I’m nailing in on what I need to do. If there’s anyone that can take this fight on such short notice, it’s me, and when I go and get my hand raised, everyone is going to be looking at this as a blessing.
“‘Eleven day-notice Volk’ is a dangerous man.”
After losing to Makhachev at UFC 284 in February via unanimous decision, “The Great” was kicking himself for giving his opponent too much respect in the cage. Volkanovski said he kept expecting more from the lightweight champion, and he was overly cautious. That won’t be the case this time.
“I know what I need to do,” he said. “Islam, I’m coming off the couch, you better do something about it because it’s going to be an absolute nightmare for you.”
UFC 294 goes down on Saturday, October 21 from Abu Dhabi, UAE. Also on the card: another last-second shuffle of a fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman, with the winner getting a shot at the middleweight title.