‘Don‘t want it to go late’: Why Volk needs ‘risky’ KO for UFC immortality

Alexander Volkanovski says he cannot afford to go into the later rounds against UFC lightweight king Islam Makhachev on only 11 days notice, which is why he is promising to “take risks” and score a KO fight fans “will remember forever”.

Speaking after weighing in here in Abu Dubai on Friday evening, the UFC featherweight champ spoke candidly about the challenges he faces in his UFC 294 headliner.

Apart from going up a weight class, or having less than a fortnight to prepare, Volk is also facing Islam Makhachev — the Dagestani bogeyman who stopped his first ‘champ champ’ tilt back in February.

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Which is why the Wollongong native is promising to take far more risks than he has previously in a career that already boasts five featherweight title defences and 13 Octagon wins.

The champ also confirmed he was already in talks with UFC president Dana White about potentially defending both titles simultaneously.

All week Volkanovski has been telling journalists he not only expects to beat Makhachev on Sunday, but will knock the lightweight champ cold.

Asked what was behind his confidence, the champ replied: “Look you can never promise anything.

“But I know what I need to do.

“And I’ve got to have that mindset because if I don’t, I’ll second guess myself and it’s not going to happen.

“So I need to manifest this.

“I need to make it happen.

“I’ve never really had this headspace before where it’s kill or be killed.

“I’m usually the type of fighter that, I wouldn’t say plays it safe, but always chooses the good options, the right options.

“It’s why people talk about my fight IQ.

“And while I’m going to try and make sure I am still making the good decisions in there, at the same time I need to take more risks.

“I have to do that.

“I don’t want it to go into the late rounds, even though I think I can.

“I don’t want to leave it to the judges again, either.

“So there are many reasons why I need to finish this.

“For my legacy, for the story … a finish makes the ending to this rivalry mind blowing and something people will talk about forever.”

Volkanovski also revealed he was already in talks with White about defending both titles simultaneously with a win.

“And they have always been against the idea,” the champ started.

“But coming in on short notice, that was a big conversation with them asking ‘what will you wanna do?’.

“And I said ‘of course I want to fight again (for featherweight gold) in February.

“Still, they’re going to need some talking into.

“And I don’t blame them.

“Because if I get injured, that’s two divisions I’m holding up.

“Two interim titles.

“I get it.

“But I’ve been vocal all week about the fact I’ve been at every lightweight at featherweight (title) fight since Korean Zomie.

“We’re talking seven fights or whatever it is.

“I’ve been there fighting, or for one I made weight.

“So I’ve already looked after the two divisions single-handedly.

“If anyone can do it it’s me.

“Actually, if anyone has done it it’s me … I’ve literally done it.”

If Volkanovski has to choose between the two straps however, he will take the bigger opportunities available at lightweight – among them Irish megastar Conor McGregor.

“If I have to choose between the two belts, I think it’s clear which division I want to stay in,” he said.

“It’s a division I haven’t had a big taste of yet.

“Well, I have had a real taste because I’ve fought the champion. And I’m about to fight him again.

“But I haven’t had a taste of all the contenders there.

“So there’s a lot of exciting fights there that I want to be part of.

“There’s so many big fights and I’m excited for whatever the people want, whatever the UFC want … whatever they think is the biggest fight, I want.

“So we’ll see.”

Elsewhere, Volkanovski did not want to be drawn on where a win would put him among Aussie fighting greats like Kostya Tszyu and Jeff Fenech — “look, I don’t like to answer that”—– or if Australian MMA should have its own Hall Of Fame.

“The UFC do and I’m planning to be part of that,” he said.

But it would be nice, right?

“Of course it would,” he continued.

“And the sport is getting so big now I think you’re going to see a lot of changes.

“It’s a no-brainer that some of these things are going to start happening.

“And doing things like this — what I plan on doing tomorrow night — people are definitely going to have the conversations.”

Volkanovski also said he felt great physically, despite having been forced to lose 12 kilos in just 11 days.

“It was obviously a lot of kilograms – and those numbers are legit,” he said.

“But you have to understand, a lot of that is water weight and I do hold a lot of water.

“So it just fell off me.

“Even last night I had five kilos to go, and did it in two hours of sweating.

“It’s like my body just knows.

“So if I wanted to get back up there tomorrow I could.

“But I literally hold back.

“Jordy (Sullivan), my dietitian, he is trying to feed me more and I’m saying ‘nah, I don’t want that’.

“I don’t want to be too heavy.

“I fight better and a certain weight and that’s where I want to keep it.

“I back my strength and skills.

“And I want to be sharp.

“I’ll need to be sharp tomorrow.”

Thoughts on how Makhachev looked?

“Islam is always going to look like that,” he said of a rival who was spotted sweating off his last ounces within minutes of the weigh-in.

“He does a big cut as well.

“And I think they do it a little bit different.

“He starves himself, barely eats anything for a couple of weeks.

“I think they do it a bit the hard way.

“And it is a draining process for him.

“Maybe that’s why he is always saying he needs that extra time to rehydrate.

“But whatever.

“You do what you need to do.

“But if you can only fight in certain parts of the world to get the right (rehydration hours), that’s maybe not your division.

“I’ve fought at featherweight in Australia and had to do the same.

“And I do big cuts.

“It’s a normal process to me.

“I do what I need to do.”