‘The Great’ is all set to defend his featherweight title! On the stacked UFC 290 PPV card, Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez will duke it out to establish supremacy in the division. The interim champ Yair has already hinted at his astute plan for beating ‘Volk.’ Countering all doubts, UFC’s #2 pound-for-pound ‘Volk’ has also revealed his secrets to keep his rival at bay.

In a recent interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, ‘Volk’ asserted that his focus is completely fixated on Yair. What’s more – ‘The Great’ has declared in a cryptic way that after his successful title defense – he’s looking forward to a rematch with arch-rival Islam Makhachev to settle the score with the Russian. Makhachev and ‘Volk’ made headlines with their electrifying battle at UFC 284. But the Russian MMA artist took it away with a unanimous decision, making it 1-0, and Volk just can’t wait to get even! 

Alexander Volkanovski breaks the silence on his ‘wishful’ rematch with Islam Makhachev

In an MMA Hour interview with Ariel Helwani, ‘The Great’ sat down to discuss his thoughts on the upcoming bout. In a recent snippet of their interview uploaded on Twitter, Volk breaks the ice on a potential rematch with Islam Makhachev.

The discussion quickly jumped to ‘Volk’s future plans – “if all goes well” on Saturday. Helwani asked Volk, “Is there a chance – all goes well on Saturday and you’re the one fighting him[Islam Makhachev] in Abu Dhabi in October?” 

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Oozing with confidence, Volk answered, “Well, I think so – let’s be real. Everyone wants that rematch.” Furthermore – expressing his passion for a rematch against Islam, ‘The Great’ told Ariel that he definitely wants it, and he believes Islam wants it too. In the same vein, Volk declared, “I’m sure – I know the UFC wants it.”

Middleweight Champ Israel Adesanya is all praises for ‘Volk’ ahead of UFC 290

Recently, Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya has come out in support of the Australian fighter. In a recent interview on his podcast FREESTYLEBENDER, the Kiwi sat down with Dan Hooker to share his opinions on Volk and the threat to his title – Yair Rodriguez. While breaking down both fighters’ caliber, Adesanya said, “Volk reckons this is the hardest fight of his career.”

Nevertheless, the Stylebender showered praise on Volk, stating that he had made all the right preparations in terms of training and coaches. The Stylebender asserted, “Things Volk has done right for this camp – bringing in the people he’s brought in – Van Roon and Diamond[Poirier]. I feel like those are two key things [are] really important.”

Now all that’s left is for ‘Volk’ to show fans if he’s a “good student” indeed. Once past Yair, he is surely in line along with Oliveira for a title shot. Who are you rooting for? Volkanovski or Yair?

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