UFC featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski is excited to be fighting back on home soil this weekend at UFC 284. It will be his first-time back fighting in Australia five years ago today at UFC 221 in Perth.
“It’s good to be back here, not only in Perth but obviously in Australia. I’ve been saying all week that we Aussie fighters, or from this region Australia/New Zealand, we deserved an event over here, not just us. Obviously, I deserve to fight in front of my home crowd, defend the belt or fight for the belt, whatever it is, and then you got the fans who deserve an event here and having their local fighters fighting here too,” Volkanovski said.
Volkanovski is currently putting Australia on the map as he attempts to chase greatness by taking out the UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and claiming the double champ status. By taking on the biggest fight of his career, the Aussie is showing the up-and-coming fighters in Australia that you can be the best in the world no matter where you are if you put the work in.
“I’m sure they all believe in their skills they’ve seen it; they’ve seen us go to the top, they’ve seen us get the belts, but I mean, Robert Whittaker did that as well. So, they got to see that, which is always going to be motivating, and you know this can be done, even from a small gym or wherever you are. But you know now we’re going for champ-champ and going really big and powerful, pound-for-pound, and all that. So, I guess we are showing these guys coming up, or even the younger generation, that yeah, you can be a champion, not only do well in the UFC, but you can also be the best. I think we are setting a good example, which is good,” Volkanovski continued.
