Alexander Volkanovski has long claimed he will be the one to dethrone featherweight champion Max Holloway. And “The Great” remains as confident as ever.
The pair will collide for the featherweight title when they meet at UFC 245 which takes place December 14 in Las Vegas. Holloway is coming off a dominant title defense against Frankie Edgar in July.
Volkanovski, meanwhile, last outpointed Jose Aldo at UFC 237 earlier this year and remains undefeated under the UFC banner. He expects to keep it that way because the Aussie doesn’t expect ‘crazy problems’ when he faces Holloway.
“You’re in for a treat, man. It’s going to be a cracker, really is,” Volkanovski told Submission Radio recently. “But I truly believe the ‘Blessed Era’ is gonna end December 14 in Vegas and that title is mine. Again, I’m not cocky, but I’m very confident in my abilities, and it’s my time.
“For Max, I know this might sound disrespectful, it’s not. I don’t think he gives me crazy problems that I have to worry about. He’s still… just purely the fact that he is very good, I give him that. He is very technical and there are things I need to worry about, but when it comes to power, knockout power – obviously his cardio, you know, the cardio’s a big factor for most people in fights, but for me it’s nothing that I need to worry about.
“And just striking and the fact that he’s a volume puncher and stuff like that, I don’t believe that’s a big threat to me. If he wants to punch in volumes, I’m gonna be there swinging back and swinging back heavy. And then I got my shots there, you know what I mean? So, I really do think this is going to be my fight and I’m gonna be pretty comfortable in there. I just gotta make sure that I’m prepared, prepared for the worst. I’m gonna be prepared that we’re going for a five-round war. And he’s obviously tough, he’s got a good chin, but I reckon I’m stopping him.”
It seems like Volkanovski is expecting an early finish on the ground. But even if he doesn’t get the job done in the early rounds, the title challenger feels he’ll simply be too powerful for “Blessed” and end up breaking him during the contest.
“I think a couple of rounds in he’s gonna know ‘oh shit, I got some work to do.’ But that’s if I don’t finish him early,” Volkanovski explained.
“Again, I don’t want to be acting like [I’m cocky]. He’s got a good chin, I’ll give him that, but mate, if I’m on top of you and punching your head through the canvas, there’s only so much the ref can take. So, it doesn’t matter how good your chin is, the ref don’t want to see too much of that. Whether it’s a submission, whether it’s ground and pound or whenever I do, knock him out on the feet, it’s just, I believe I’m gonna be too powerful. And again, I think I’m gonna let the hands go this time.
“Max, he’s a gamer and obviously he’s a cardio machine as well, so I want to make sure I’m in the best nick ever. Because I’m gonna be setting the pace as well, and I truly feel like I’m gonna end up breaking him. He’s obviously gonna be there, he’s gonna be always in my face, but I feel like I’m just gonna feel him get weaker and weaker and weaker.”
UFC 245 has another title fight on the cards as Amanda Nunes defends her women’s bantamweight crown against Germaine de Randamie in a rematch. One more title fight is expected to be added to the card.