‘The Great’ is still incredibly confident that only one opponent can match him inside the Octagon.
Alexander Volkanovski faces Diego Lopes for the vacant UFC featherweight title at the Kaseya Center in Miami next month.
The former champion has already got plans in mind for his second title reign at 145-pounds with Volkanovski targeting Movsar Evloev as his first challenger.
Despite this confidence, the Aussie did admit ahead of time that after taking the longest break of his career, Volkanovski had some doubts about his ability to return.
This has since been removed with UFC 314 drawing closer where he believes that the only chance of him suffering a defeat is if he gets caught with a lucky shot.
Fans react to Alexander Volkanovski saying only a puncher’s chance and Islam Makhachev can beat him
After going without a loss for a decade, Alexander Volkanovski now finds himself looking to bounce back from consecutive knockout losses with a record of 1-3 in his last four outings.
Whilst his first fight with Islam Makhachev was very close with the rematch taking place on short notice which many believe impacted his quick turnaround to face Ilia Topuria at UFC 298, it doesn’t change the fact that April 12 is a huge date for ‘The Great’.
His recent losses haven’t changed the mentality that he always brings into the Octagon where he has total faith in his skillset at all time.
Being the best fighter doesn’t always mean securing the victory, as Volkanovski spoke about in a recent interview with Main Event when he was asked about the aggressive and somewhat reckless style of Diego Lopes.
“We’ve got to remember, I don’t believe anyone can beat me. The only person that I can see giving me a tough fight for five rounds is Islam Makhachev which, you know, in the first one as you’ve seen. Everyone else has just got a puncher’s chance, that’s just how I always look at it and I truly believe that. That’s the confidence I have in myself, no one can beat me, they can catch me.”
With the quote from Volkanovski about opponent’s only having a “puncher’s chance” being posted on social media, fight fans reacted to his recent comments.
Though this kind of self confidence is likely to be prominent in many high level mixed martial artists, fans were critical of ‘The Great’ for this opinion.
“Bro is stuck in the past,” remarked one user whilst another labelled the former champion as “deluded”.
“This Guy is a loser. I hope he is knocked out by Lopes so that he learns his lesson.”
Alexander Volkanovski has to think like that against Diego Lopes
One other fan on social media pointed out why this mindset is a benefit to Alexander Volkanovski rather than an example of him being “delusional” about his recent defeats.
“Good mentality to have when you’re going into a cage fighting for your life basically. If you don’t have any confidence in yourself you’ll get eaten alive by those elite fighters.”
Diego Lopes is not a fighter that knows how to fight with a reserved pace so if Volkanovski had any doubts about his ability to compete at the highest level or withstand damage, that would quickly be tested.
By believing that he is still the very best, it gives him the confidence that he needs to fight the way that he always has despite being in the toughest run of results of his entire career.