‘Green light’: UFC boss grants Aussie ‘freak’ special privilege

Alexander Volkanovski has been given a rare “green light” by UFC boss Dana White in a gesture that befits his greatness.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 08: Alexander Volkanovski of Australia reacts to his win over Yair Rodriguez of Mexico in the UFC featherweight championship fight during the UFC 290 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 08, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — UFC president Dana White says Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski will be given a ‘green light’ to pick whichever fight he wants after beating Yair Rodriguez with an elbow injury so bad it requires immediate surgery.

If defeating one of the UFC’s most dangerous strikers within three rounds at UFC 290 wasn’t impressive enough – or dumping and finishing him on the ground — Volkanovski revealed afterwards it had all been done with a serious arm injury that had seen him “struggle” throughout camp.

His team revealed to Fox Sports Australia that the fighter has a chipped bone in his left elbow so bad he cannot fully straighten the arm.

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It also caused nerve complications during the build up.

Yet while the UFC featherweight champ will now undergo surgery, he suggested he would not rule out still chasing that hyped rematch against lightweight king Islam Makhachev in October.

So dominant was Volkanovski in his fifth UFC featherweight title defence, White indicated afterwards ‘The Great’ could now decide himself what comes next.

“Volk looked incredible,” the UFC boss said. “He’s an absolute freak.

“He’s at one of those places in his career now where whatever he wants to do, what are we gunna say?

“He’s proven himself a million times. So whatever he wants to do we go with it, yeah.”

Asked about how quickly he would recover from the injury, the Aussie reminded that he broke his hand when beating Max Holloway on the same International Fight Week show a year ago.

Despite the setback, Volkanovski was still back and ready to go on standby for the annual Abu Dhabi card that October.

“I didn’t mean to scare everyone,” the champ grinned when asked about his surgery revelation.

“It’s not a big deal.

“I’ll be back ASAP.

“It will be a quick and I’ll be back training.

“I broke my hand at International Fight Week last year and you saw me in Abu Dhabi ready to fight (on standby) Islam Makhachev or Charles Oliveira.

“That was a broken bone.

“So I’ll be right.

“You don’t need to stress about that. I’ll be active again, don’t worry about. I have a couple of little things to fix up then I will be kicking ass again.”

Alexander Volkanovski of Australia punches Yair Rodriguez of Mexico in the UFC featherweight championship fight during the UFC 290 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 08, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Asked later in his press conference again about October Volk said “I’m not ruling it out”.

Speaking with Fox Sports Australia in fight week, Volk suggested a win over Rodriguez would see him chase a rematch with Makhachev.

If that wasn’t possible, he then wanted to challenge for the ‘BMF’ title – which is set to be contested by lightweight stars Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje at UFC 291.

But now that White says he can pick?

“We all know I want that lightweight belt,” he said. “I want that Islam fight, want that rematch.

“Not only for me to get that belt, get that win back, but it’s a massive fight for the UFC as well.

“It’s a fight everyone wants to see. It was a close fight, a cracking fight. We showed out. He lived up to the hype, I lived up to the hype and the fight lived up to the hype.”

White agreed, praising not only Volkanovski but an entire team that includes UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya and fellow Kiwi Dan Hooker, who upset Jalin Turner this same night with broken wrist.

“Look at Israel Adesanya, he’s ready to fight anybody, anywhere, anytime,” White said.

“Volkanovski is willing to fight anybody, too.

“When you look at Volk, the size, the reach, he doesn’t care. He gets in there and handles his business.

“Hooker also breaks his wrist in the second round (tonight). I didn’t even know. That whole team is bad ass.”

Originally published as ‘Green light’: UFC boss grants Aussie ‘freak’ special privilege