Alexander Volkanovski made UFC history on Saturday night at UFC 314, becoming the first fighter at 155lbs or lower to win a UFC title at 35 years old or older.
Fans of Alexander Volkanovski were understandably nervous coming into his UFC 314 title fight against Diego Lopes, considering his back-to-back KO losses to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.
Despite that, Volkanovski went on to put on a vintage performance, reclaiming his featherweight title and joining an exclusive group with fighters like Georges St-Pierre and others.
The 36-year-old had to overcome adversity throughout the clash, and late in the fight, he lost his sight in one eye after Lopes landed a huge shot.
Alexander Volkanovski provides surprising reaction after rewatching fight
A few days removed from his emotional win, Volkanovski has rewatched his fight and has revealed what he is surprisingly happiest about from his performance.
“I’m pretty happy that I was still able to get hit, if I went out there and didn’t get hit and didn’t get my chin tested, you just get a lot more out of it, right, like that’s what a lof of questions were going into it,” Volkanovski said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“And even myself, I went in there like, ‘Am I gonna go lights out again as soon as I get touched?’ and that wasn’t the case, so it was good to have a war and go through a bit of adversity in there.
“I guess a lot of people wanted to know going into it, ‘How’s he gonna do? Is his chin gonna hold up? Is he gonna look old?’ I think I answered a few questions and I rose to the occasion,” he continued.
Despite the fact that Volkanovski’s performance was vintage and he showcased why he is one of the pound-for-pound best fighters on the planet, he went on to critique his performance slightly.
“I guess I was a little bit harder on myself,” Volkanovski explained regarding his demeanour after the fight.
“I’m my hardest critic, I just know I could’ve done better in there. Watching back the tape, I think I was hard on myself, but I still know I could’ve done better,” he stated.
Volkanovski sends Diego Lopes a message following their war
A few hours after his gutting loss to Volkanovski, Lopes took to social media to break his silence in an emotional post.
However, Volk has attempted to lift the Brazilian’s spirits by telling him how great he did in the fight, with Volk still banged up days removed.
“I’ll be feeling he pain, the Lopes pain for a couple of weeks, he’s a good dude, he probably doesn’t want me being in pain, but if it makes him feel any better, have a look mate, you did great,” Volk said.
Despite the pain the Australian is feeling right now, he is surprisingly hoping to return to action as soon as July to take on the next contender, Movsar Evloev.
