UFC 293: Israel Adesanya labels Alex Volkanovski the UFC GOAT
Israel Adesanya considers himself one of the greatest fighters of all time, but he would be willing to play second billing to one man.
Alex Volkanovski is the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
That’s the view of Israel Adesanya, with the middleweight champion of the world even saying he’d be willing to play second billing to Volkanovski in a UFC 300 blockbuster next year.
Adesanya and featherweight champion Volkanovski have formed a close bond after years spent training together at Auckland’s City Kickboxing gym, and their careers have followed similar upwards trajectories.
After winning their world titles within two months of one another in 2019, they both achieved dominance in their respective divisions and made bold moves up a weight class to fight for world titles against bigger opponents.
Adesanya was beaten in a one-sided decision by Jan Blachowicz, while Volkanovski dropped a controversial decision to Islam Makhachev in Perth earlier this year.
“I was chasing the ‘greatest of all time’ – and I still think I’m one of the greatest of all time – but I put Alex Volkanovski as the greatest of all time in my eyes,” Adesanya said on Wednesday ahead of his UFC 293 title defence against Sean Strickland.
“I see the work he does, he’s my buddy and he’s one of my favourite fighters in history.”
Adesanya and Volkanovski’s bond is so tight that they even spent a few days together training and relaxing with Mark Zuckerberg at the Facebook founder’s house on Lake Tahoe in July.
“It’s always good to have Volk around,” Adesanya told this masthead. “I feed off his energy, his mana and his vibe.
“As a man, he’s just a cool dude and that’s why I put him as the greatest. I love that dude.”
Volkanovski’s trilogy fight with Max Holloway at UFC 276 last year was the co-main event to Adesanya’s title defence against Jared Cannonier.
But after witnessing Volkanovski’s three-round destruction of Yair Rodriguez in July, ‘Stylebender’ has no problems switching spots if they both land fights at next year’s UFC 300 blockbuster.
“I’d love to headline that,” Adesanya said of the landmark event. “Alex Volkanovksi as well, he should be a part of it.
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“I’ll co-headline for Alex Volkanovski. That’s my dog. But if he doesn’t fight, I’ll headline.
“I’m sure there’s others as well, Conor will probably try to jump in there because he’s the superstar and he gets what he wants.”
Volkanovski, who is the No.2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC behind Jon Jones, has spoken about fighting McGregor on the card, but could target a lightweight title fight rematch against Islam Makhachev.
Originally published as UFC 293: Israel Adesanya labels Alex Volkanovski the UFC GOAT
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