Alex Volkanovski, UFC 294 post-fight | 23 October, 2023 | Illawarra Mercury - video Dailymotion

Illawarra Mercury

Alexander Volkanovski reacts to his defeat to Islam Makhachev at UFC 294. Video: UFC

Transcript

00:00 I probably could have made better decisions.

00:07 He's not someone you should be taking short notice with.

00:12 I needed it.

00:14 A lot of people say it's for the money.

00:18 It was much more than that.

00:21 It is hard.

00:22 It's hard for athletes.

00:30 I never thought I'd struggle with it.

00:32 But for some reason, when I wasn't fighting or in camp,

00:39 I just threw my head in.

00:41 I needed a fight.

00:43 And then this opportunity came up.

00:46 I'll be honest, I wasn't training as much as I should have.

00:49 I had to take it.

00:53 I'm telling myself it's meant to be.

00:57 I was struggling a little bit not fighting.

01:00 I don't know how.

01:01 Everything's fine.

01:02 I've got a beautiful family.

01:04 But you just need to keep busy.

01:07 That's why I ask the UFC to keep me busy.

01:12 I need to be in camp.

01:16 Otherwise I'm going to do my head in.

01:21 I want to be sensitive to what you're saying.

01:23 You don't have to reveal anything.

01:25 You said Tyson Fury said if you're not fighting,

01:29 you get down.

01:31 Or are you saying you get bored?

01:33 What do you mean by you need to be busy?

01:37 I don't know.

01:39 It's weird.

01:40 I've never believed in that stuff.

01:43 I never got it.

01:45 It was something that -- I don't know.

01:48 Maybe the more and more I learn about my sport,

01:51 the more and more I understand.

01:53 I don't know.

01:54 It was different.

01:55 It was a decision I chose.

01:57 I talked about us having a smile on my face,

02:00 me and my wife.

02:02 Obviously my wife could see that it does get hard.

02:05 I don't know why.

02:07 You know what I mean?

02:09 I think there was just so much going on with obviously the surgery

02:12 and then the baby.

02:15 Yeah, and then like I just needed to get in camp.

02:19 And then this fight come up, I'm like,

02:21 "It's meant to be, let's do it."

02:23 So I thought that was what it was.

02:26 But maybe it was just a silly decision under the circumstances.

02:30 Again, they're decisions you don't want to make against someone like Islam.

02:33 And I'm not taking nothing away from him.

02:36 Yeah.

02:38 I don't think you're the only athlete who struggled with that, by the way.

02:41 Yeah, I know that.

02:42 I know it's a very common thing.

02:44 It was something that, again, I never understood.

02:47 It was--yeah, I've never dealt with anything like that, to be honest.

02:52 Yeah.

02:57 You know, it was obviously--I talk about being professional

03:01 and always turning up.

03:03 And if there ever was a time that I wasn't, it was literally now.

03:08 And then I made a decision, maybe this happened to give me a kick up the ass

03:13 for being silly.

03:15 Maybe it won't happen again now.

03:16 Maybe that's what it was.

03:17 Maybe this will kick me back into gear, get back in there,

03:20 and go back to featherweight division and kick ass there.

03:23 Yeah.

Alex Volkanovski, UFC 294 post-fight | 23 October, 2023 | Illawarra Mercury

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