UFC 266: Aussie champ Alexander Volkanovski’s stunning comeback in ‘round of the year’
After coming back from the dead in the ring, Australian UFC superstar Alexander Volkanovski turned his attention to injured loudmouth Conor McGregor.
UFC
Don't miss out on the headlines from UFC. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Alexander Volkanovski has hit back at Conor McGregor for tweeting him “on the piss” while also revealing, in detail, his battle to retain the UFC featherweight title in a fight now being hailed the greatest of the year.
On a night where he bravely, and almost impossibly, fought out of two submission attempts by American rival Brian Ortega to win at UFC 266, Volkanovski also then had to defend a social media attack from the Irish megastar.
As Volkanovski’s Las Vegas blockbuster got underway, McGregor tweeted: “I’d kick this volovski (sic) head off like it was a rugby ball I was kicking. 5’4! And full of muscle! Hahahahaha little fart he is. Not even a little fart. A shart haahahahaj jackass.”
While Volkanovski had not seen the tweet by the time he reached the post-fight presser, beer in hand and belt slung over a shoulder, he had been informed about what the ‘Notorious’ had said.
So as for his response?
“Sounds like he’s on the piss,” Volkanovski laughed early in a presser that would finish with him doing a shoey.
“And so am I.
“It’s Conor, man. Conor doing Conor things. Good on him.”
Then, a journalist suggested that McGregor, a former featherweight champ himself, may have been upset by suggestions in the broadcast that the Australian had beaten the division’s two greatest fighters -- Max Holloway and Jose Aldo.
“That would have stung him,” Volkanovski agreed, before adding there was no way McGregor would drop down in weight to fight him.
“Especially when he’s on this piss. Anyway, I’m going to get on the piss too so maybe you see some weird tweets from me.”
The McGregor comments were only one segway, however, in an incredible night where, in the third round alone, Volkanovski found himself twice in submission attempts by Ortega, a Gracie jiu jitsu black belt.
First, it was a guillotine in which the Wollongong striker was snared. Yet even when he escaped, Volkanovski was then caught by a tight triangle choke -- the signature move of the fighter nicknamed T-City, or Triangle City.
Asked afterwards about the guillotine, Volkanovski said: “It was deep.
“It was ‘oh, f… I’m about to lose the belt deep. I remember, I was making weird noises. I don’t know what noise it was, but it was like ‘f… you’re going to lose this belt’.”
And the triangle?
“Nah, it wasn’t too bad,” he added. “It was obviously deep.
“But I felt I was strong enough to put him in positions so it wouldn’t get as tight. So I knew I would get out of that.”
But everyone else? No.
With ESPN analyst Daniel Cormier saying in commentary that he thought Volkanovski, who he later dubbed The Terminator, was going to be finished in both submissions.
Yet instead, the champ twice fought out. As a result, taking his undefeated run to all 10 UFC appearances and 20 straight professional fights.
“I had to dig deep to get out of there,” Volkanovski said. “But again, me going through adversity, busting my arse, never giving up attitude and all that s..., that’s exactly what you saw.”
The Aussie also said he was learning to embrace being underrated by people.
“Let them hate, let them carry on. I love it,” he said.
“That underdog mentality, I love proving people wrong.
“The crowd booing me (tonight), all that shit. I f…ing loved it. Used it as fuel.
“So this is going to change me.
“Bald Volk is f…ing coming for everyone.”
Elsewhere, Volkanovski suggested he may move up to lightweight for a fight while waiting on the next challenger, which will come from the winner of a bout between Holloway and Yair Rodriguez, in November.
He also suggested that, given the ongoing dramas surrounding Covid, he may move his family to the United States for the short term, while he chases more big money fights.
@danawhite im gonna take Alexander the Average’s soul #ufc266
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) September 26, 2021
Volkanovski also took a shot at Henry Cejudo, the former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champ, who while retired, also took to Twitter after the fight, writing: “@danawhite im gonna take Alexander the Average’s soul #ufc266”
“F… Henry Cejudo,” he laughed. “He’s called out everyone.
“He’s called out females.
“Do you actually believe the s… that comes out of his mouth? Nah. Don’t worry about him. I’ll squash the little germ.”
AUSSIE UFC CHAMP ‘DEAD’ BEFORE STUNNING COMEBACK
Alexander Volkanovski, in round three of this one, was in more strife than that cowboy hanging from the end of a rope in one of those spaghetti westerns.
Yet worse than a noose, the Australian was in a triangle choke.
Or the signature move of his Californian rival, Brian Ortega.
Here was the moment where Australia’s UFC featherweight champ seemed not only gone, or finished – but dead.
Just as had been predicted by an American rival, and submission specialist, who not only promised to take his head at the weigh-ins, but walked out to the cage wearing a mask from cult horror franchise, The Purge.
But back to that choke.
Watch Live UFC with ESPN on Kayo. Full Fight Night Events, PPV Prelims, Ultimate Fighter Series & More. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial >
“I heard him gargling,” Ortega said afterwards.
Yet somehow, Volkanovski escaped.
Just as moments before, he had just as impossibly escaped a guillotine attempt from his rival who, a Gracie black belt, and submission specialist, comes with his own ‘Warning: Choke hazard’ sticker.
Greatest round of the year?
Certainly it has to be in discussions.
Just as Volkanovski has earned exactly what he came to Las Vegas seeking – his breakout UFC win.
Officially, ‘Volko’ won a decision win over Ortega, with the judges scorecards reading 49-46, 50-45, 50-44.
He also rewrote the record books, becoming the first fighter from Down Under to not only claim 10 straight UFC wins, but defend a title twice.
Fellow Aussie Robert Whittaker had one defence of the UFC middleweight title and nine straight wins when he lost the gold strap to New Zealand superstar Israel Adesanya in 2019.
It also sees Volkanovski go to 20 straight wins as a professional.
Incredible.
As was the fight.
In a competitive first two rounds, both fighters landed solidly, with Ortega cut over the left eye and Volkanovski, split underneath his, as things got real busy, real quick.
Volkanovski landing legs, Ortega jabs, both men bleeding, then Volkanovski landing with the rights, fooling with the feints, bell for the second, the champ screaming at Ortega, the Californian talking back.
Clearly, Volkanovski was landing the bigger shots, however.
Then in the third, a head clash, a strong Volkanovski combination then … $%@# … Ortega got Volkanovski in a choke, the way he ends so many fights …. and seemed ready to end this one … but no, Volkanovski is out … but not long … with Ortega now catching the Aussie in a triangle, his signature move … all over … no, the champ is out again.
“Nobody gets out of that,” ESPN’s Daniel Cormier would say in commentary, referring to the second choke held by a fighter whose nickname is T-City, or Triangle City.
But Volkanovski not only got out, but finished the round on top, reigning down punches so bad that before he came out the fourth, Ortega was asked to count fingers, his right eye so badly swollen.
Then in the fourth, Ortega went for it again. But Volkanovski got out.
“He’s a savage,” retired UFC champ Daniel Cormier said in commentary. “He isn’t tapping to anything tonight”.
Impossibly, Volkanovski then picked up the pace. Standing over the American and once more reigning down blows so hard Ortega only just made it back to his corner, with the pair then going at it again in the fifth of what finished one of the great fights.
“All them doubters, I’m going to keep proving you wrong,” Volkanovski shouted afterwards.
Time to put some respect on your name.
“About f…ing time,” he grinned. “One hundred per cent.”
And the choke?
“Some of it was pretty tight,” Volkanovski understated. “For some reason I stayed on the ground with him.
“He’s good.
“Obviously I’m going to say he’s not on my level, I was trying to get in his head as much as possible.
“I thought I was in his head but he come back even stronger. Credit to him. He proved himself.”
Asked how close the triangle was, Ortega said afterwards: “I thought it was done.
“I was trying to go for his head but that little bastard is f…ing tough as hell.
“I wrapped onto that neck and tried to squeeze it. Trust me guys … I heard him gargling.
“But then, he slipped out. I was like, ‘f…’. He’s the champ for a reason.”
More Coverage
Originally published as UFC 266: Aussie champ Alexander Volkanovski’s stunning comeback in ‘round of the year’
‘Oh my god’: Fans stunned by UFC bloodbath
UFC megastar Alex Pereira proved once again he’s a different beast as he dominated his latest rival, leaving him unrecognisable.
Read more
Murder, PEDs, addiction: Rountree’s road from Boy to Man to UFC 307
A murdered father who managed Boyz II Men, drug bans and fast food addictions – nothing has been conventional about Khalil Rountree Jr’s path to UFC 307.
Read more