Alex Volkanovski admits Max Holloway’s decision to pull out of the pair’s fight was “frustrating”, but the Aussie UFC champion insists the American’s withdrawal hasn’t distracted him from hixjmtzyws preparation for UFC 273.
Volkanovski, the UFC featherweight champion, has twice defeated Holloway in the octagon and had been set for a third meeting in April.
Just days after the bout was announced, Holloway pulled out injured, which left Volkanovski disappointed at the time.
“It was frustrating because I want to fight. I was waiting long enough and wasn’t getting clear answers and things like that,” he told News Corp.
“Obviously, people are going to play their games and all that type of stuff, which I understand, but at the same time I’m like, ‘Let’s do this’.
“Then to hear it’s on and then to hear he can’t fight. I hear it (a fight with Holloway) can’t be pushed back, which I would have just done if I knew that he would be cleared a month later.
“I was disappointed to see that, but I’m just glad that we were able to still save a similar day (to fight) because I want to get a few fights in this year.”
Volkanovski is now set to go head to head with Jung “The Korean Zombie” Chan-sung on April 9 for a chance to retain his featherweight champion belt.
“Now that it’s ‘Zombie’, it’s all good,” Volkanovski said.
“Having someone like ‘Zombie’ is still pretty incredible.
“When you talk about a legacy fighter and all that type of stuff, he’s been in the game a long time, and he’s been at the top a long time.
“So when you talk about featherweight greats, he’s definitely out there. For this opportunity to come his way, I think he deserves it.”
Volkanovski admits there will be pressure on his shoulders but is backing himself to knock the Korean off in the pair’s first meeting.
“There’s always going to be pressure,” he said.
“It just comes with everything … being the champion and whatnot, there’s a standard that you need to keep up. You want to raise that bar every time.
“I think it’s a good notch on the belt once I take him out too.”
Volkanovski said having a fighter’s mentality in and out of the octagon was the key to preparing for success in the high-stakes bout.
“Preparation … 99 per cent of the time is going to be harder than the fight itself,” he said.
“I’ve accepted it. I know what’s ahead. I know there’s a lot of hard sessions. I know I’m going to feel broken and that I’m going to have to have the resilience to get through.
“I accept whatever challenges are coming in front because we are all going to be fighting some stuff in life. So I say bring it on. At least I’ll be prepared for it.”
