Alexander Volkanovski never so much lost this one as simply found himself behind when the clock stopped.
A sixth round?
Would’ve been insane.
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Which is why afterwards, Australia’s most famous concreter looked down a camera lens and, just like he once carted Steedens for the Warilla Gorillas said: “I want that f…ing rematch”.
Better, Australia’s No.1 fighter right now, and maybe ever, reckons Islam Makhachev, deep down, wants it too.
In one, last wonderful twist to Volkanovski’s incredible headliner at UFC 284 – where he lost a UFC lightweight title bid, but won everywhere else – the gutsy underdog revealed his Dagestani rival had said afterwards, and out loud, that he wanted a rematch.
With good reason, too?
“I’m hearing (Makhachev) was saying – and I could be wrong – but he was going back to his corner saying he wants a rematch because he thinks he lost,” Volkanovski said.
“That’s funny.
“And I’ll jump on that. Rematch.”
Which is some follow, right?
And why Volkanovski was then immediately asked where said information had come from?
“Is it wrong? Dunno,” the reigning UFC featherweight champion continued.
“Whether he said it, thought he might have lost, I don’t know. I just heard from someone … I’ll watch the fight and see.”
Makhachev told Fox Sports Australia after the bout he would be willing to fight Volkanovski again.
Volk v Islam rematch? ‘Why not?’ | 03:06
In an early contender for UFC Fight of the Year, Australia’s reigning featherweight king, and a 4/1 underdog, almost caused one of the greatest boilovers in the nation’s proud fight history.
Officially, Volkanovski went through five chaotic rounds where he started slow, rallied, dropped his rival, survived his chokes and then stormed home in the fifth – only to lose on the judges scorecards 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.
Yet UFC great Nate Diaz, he was one of many who scored it three rounds to two the other way.
Just as Israel Adesanya, sat cageside, embraced those around him afterwards like he had just watched his great mate win. Same as on social media, plenty reckoned The Great had just done enough to become only the fifth UFC fighter in history to claim ‘champ champ’ status.
None more than Diaz, either.
Who with a raucous RAC Arena crowd of 15,000 still screaming ‘bulls…’ was already taking to Twitter, proclaiming: “Yeah right. Islam got his ass whooped”.
“So I definitely want the fight back,” Volkanovski continued.
“I want that f…ing lightweight belt.
“Everyone wanted to pushing this crazy f…ing narrative that Islam’s invincible. I thought, ‘OK run with it’.
“It just would’ve been so much a better story if I won, right?
“I wish I could sit here saying ‘hey, the invincible man, I told you’.
“But I’m not in that position.
“It was close.
“Very winnable.”
Volk gives gracious post-fight interview | 02:30
So about Round 6 then, and that rematch?
Unfortunately, Makhachev eventually fronted the press and strangled that one like so many of his opponents.
“This is not true,” he deadpanned about that comment.
“Minimum I won three rounds. I don’t lose.”
So what would it take for you to fight ‘The Great’ again then?
“I never choose opponent,” he said. “When Dana call me I’ll be ready.”
While Volkanovski now has a UFC featherweight title defence lined up for later this year, and likely on homesoil against Yair Rodriguez – who himself won an interim title in the co main – his preference, undoubtedly, and at least in the hour after fighting, is to run this one back.
Asked what he said to Makhachev in the Octagon afterwards, the father-of-two said he went over, congratulated the champ and saw “shocked faces”.
“But I expected them to be shocked,” he said. “Expected to see his face like I did out there.
“I think they thought I’d be a walk in the park.
“I just didn’t get my hand raised.
“I’m still proud of myself. Proved a lot of people wrong.
“But I didn’t get my hand raised.
“It sucks.”
Then going again, Volkanovski continued: “It f…ing could’ve been a moment, man.
“Imagine proving all them doubters wrong. And in Australia.
“F… what a moment.
“F…”
F…, indeed.
JDM secures BRUTAL 1st round finish | 00:59
Importantly, Volkanovski blamed nobody for the loss but himself, saying that he may have “second guessed” himself in the early rounds before storming home.
Which is why rather than wishing on a sixth round this particular night, Volkanovski said he would likely look back and wish he had done more early against a rival who was not the bogeyman people had hyped him to be.
“He’s not strong,” the Aussie stressed. “I even said to my corner, you could probably hear it ‘he’s not strong’.
“Not being a dick.
“Not being disrespectful.
“He’s just not strong.
“(I thought) maybe he’s baiting me. Maybe he is waiting for me to do something.
“I didn’t capitalise on that straight away.
“Which I should’ve
“And I realised that later on.
“I was like f…, I could’ve done more.
“I could’ve capitalised more. I expected him to be a bit more relentless in the shots.
“So I held back until the last round I guess.
“It’s pretty clear I could’ve won that.”
Aussie turns groin shot into submission | 01:05
Volkanovski also revealed what he said in the fourth round when, being held in the clinch by Makhachev, he could be seen talking over and over to his rival.
Asked how the conversation went, he replied: “Don’t f…ing think you’re just going to hop in these positions. I doesn’t happen
“And not being a d…. Not being disrespectful.
“I’m just getting in his head.
“Even when he had me I was saying ‘you’re not that strong’.
“Then when he’s there it was ‘what are you just hanging on?’ (He had said) 15 seconds you were going to drag me into deep waters …’
“I remember that stuff. He was hanging on for dear life.”
Which to his credit, is exactly what Makhachev was doing when this one was stopped.
Enough to have him ahead when time ran out.
