Off the back of his impressive title win at UFC 314, Alexander Volkanovski has claimed doubters were right to count him out ahead of his fight with Diego Lopes — after suffering back-to-back knockout stoppages in less than a year.
Volkanovski, who headlined the promotion’s return to Miami last weekend, returned to the top of the featherweight division to boot with a stellar performance.
Managing to begin his second reign at the featherweight limit, Australian technician, Volk outstruck the always-aggressive Lopes en route to a unanimous decision success.
And with the win, the New South Wales favorite snapped a two-fight losing skid to boot. Prior to his return, Volkanovski had dropped a pair of title fight knockout loss to Islam Makhachev, and Ilia Topuria, at the lightweight and featherweight limit, respectively.
Alexander Volkanovski admits doubters had some credence
Off the back of his successful title triumph, Volkanovski has revealed he has no issues with fans and critics doubting him pre-UFC 314 — given his recent downturn in form.
“A lot of people wanted to know going in: Is his chin going to hold up? Is he going to look old? Will his timing be off? I think I answered a few questions,” Alexander Volkanovski said on his official YouTube channel. “I rose to the occasion, especially after a big break and coming off two knockout losses. Everyone had every right to count me out, but the only way to change your mind is for me to go out there and do my thing. I think I was able to do that.”
And already lined up for his return to action, Volkanovski has been heavily linked with a title defense against the unbeaten Russian challenger, Movsar Evloev as soon as later this year.
