1 week Ago By Jamie Theodosi, Bloody Elbow
Alexander Volkanovski overcame a pretty insurmountable task on Saturday night, reclaiming the UFC featherweight title at UFC 314. After suffering back-to-back KO losses against Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria , fans were worried about Alexander Volkanovski ‘s future and whether he could bounce back. Despite that, ‘The Great’ Volkanovski became the first fighter in UFC history to win a title aged over 35 at 155lbs and lighter when he put on a vintage performance against Diego Lopes .
Volkanovski had to overcome adversity in the fight when he was knocked down early on, and also lost his eye-sight in the later rounds , somehow staying in the fight. Max Holloway reacts to his former foe regaining the featherweight title During the Australian’s first title reign, he had three incredible fights against former champion, Max Holloway , in which Volkanovski won all three. Despite ‘Blessed’ Holloway having moved up to the lightweight division since their three classic fights, he was still keeping a close eye on the UFC 314 main event.
Holloway uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, in which he watched the fight live, offering his live reaction to the action in Miami. “That was a real good fight,” Holloway immediately reacted after the final horn. “I just thought, that’s what Alex would do.
Be smart, land his points, and not get suckered in. I think Alex won four rounds, one, two, three, and then the fifth,” Holloway claimed. On the official scorecards, Volkanovski was four rounds up on two of the judges’ scorecards, and the third judge only had him one round ahead.
“They told him he wasn’t gonna get it back. Lopes’ eye was busted, I didn’t even notice that during the fight,” Holloway said. Volkanovski is now just one win away from equaling Jose Aldo ‘s record of eight title wins in the featherweight division.
“Animal. Animal. He’s about to catch up (to Aldo), one more,” Holloway continued.
Max Holloway talks about who could be next for Volkanovski With Volk having already beaten several of the featherweight contenders during his first title reign, there aren’t many fighters he has yet to face. However, immediately after his fight, the champion claimed that he would like to return as soon as July , potentially taking on Movsar Evloev . Despite that, also picking up an impressive win on the UFC 314 main card was Yair Rodriguez , who is hoping he has done enough to warrant a rematch against Volkanovski .
“I don’t know (who’s next). Yair but Yair is a rematch. Movsar but I don’t know if they give Movsar a title shot.
Maybe they give Aaron Pico someone high (in the rankings) so they can try and fast-track Aaron Pico to the title shot. “What a night of fights, man. Truly amazing.
Good to see Volk going out there and creating some history, making some records, always happy to see. It’s always good to see a former rival do their thing, we ain’t even rivals man, it’s all love,” Holloway stated. This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.
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