The fact that Alexander Volkanovski has had less than two weeks to prepare for his short notice lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 on Saturday night might seem like a disadvantage, but the featherweight champ is instead appreciating the positives of the situation.
“I think this is something that I can really take in, the freshness of no injuries,” Volkanovski said on ‘The MMA Hour’ show. “It’s exhausting going through camp sometimes. You do eight to 12 weeks of absolutely bashing yourself mentally and physically,” said Volkanovski. “I’m sort of in a position where I don’t lose fitness overnight. It takes me a long time to lose fitness. I’m pretty comfortable when I am and now I can take this freshness into this fight, go in there sort of excited and fresh. It’s like I don’t have to prepare for the worst. I don’t have time to prepare for the worst.
“What I do have time for is to prepare what I believe is going to happen and stick to my game plan. That’s why I think that I’m going to be more dangerous that I’ve ever been.”
And Volkanovski has even went as far as to predict that he’ll be going for a finish this time around.
“I believe I finish him,” Volkanovski said. “I think we’re going to see probably the most dangerous Volkanovski you’ve ever seen just purely because I can’t afford to do anything else.”
