October 18, 2022 8: 00 am ET
ABU DHABI – Even if Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev make weight for the UFC 280 headliner, Alexander Volkanovski won’t take his foot off the gas pedal.
Volkanovski, the existing UFC featherweight champ, plans to meet his responsibilities as the backup fighter till the minute all possibility of stepping in hasactually gone away, and stated he doesn’t plan to unwind upuntil Oliveira (33-8 MMA, 21-8 UFC) and Makhachev (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) are in the octagon for their uninhabited light-weight title clash.
“It’s tookplace priorto,” Volkanovski informed MMA Junkie. “We’ve had individuals insomeway not be able to battle (on) battle day. I’ll stay as if I might be combating. Maybe when I’m at the occasion I’ll hit some individuals up and state, ‘I’m here. Am I all great?’ Then I’ll have a couple of beers. But upuntil I’m infact in the crowd sitting down is when I can unwind a little and perhaps have the beverage and takepleasurein the card.”
For now, Volkanovski (25-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) is locked in on being allset in case anything with Oliveira or Makhachev goes awry at the last minute. It’s a strong relocation from the existing 145-pound titleholder, however one he felt was important for his profession.
“I’m simply going through the week as if it’s a regular battle week and I’m battling,” Volkanovski sai