The state of “fight promotion” in terms of trash talk has become a focal point of late for those in the MMA sphere. Brought to the forefront after Jorge Masvidal was arrested for sucker-punching rival Colby Covington outside a Miami eatery weeks removed from their UFC 272 showdown, whether lines have been crossed and unwritten rules broken in recent years has been debated like never before.
Asked where the line in terms of fight build-ups and trash talk lies, featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski didn’t have an answer at the UFC 273 media day on Wednesday — but he did state that you’ll never see him take the route Covington has.
“You’ll never see me be a Colby Covington, that’s for sure. I’ll just be me. I’ll be free. I just want to show my character,” Volkanovski stated, ahead of his main event title fight against The Korean Zombie. “I am a friendly guy, but if you piss me off, I’m going to say so. That’s just how I am. But again, I don’t feel like I have to try and force something and be someone I’m not just to please everyone. That’s something, I’m over that. I feel like I can be myself, and that’s good. Again, the freedom of that.”
That’s not to say that Volkanovski will never play the bad guy. He’ll just be comfortable with it, and still stay true to himself, if he does.
“At the same time, if I do decide to go that heel route or something like that, if that’s the decision I make, I’ll be comfortable with it. Even if it was the wrong decision at the time, I’ll move on,” Volkanovski continued. “That’s where I’m at right now. Usually I’ll be sitting there doing my head in forever, like ‘why’d you say that? aww’ whereas now, it’s like whatever, move on. So that’s where I’m at. Just be me. That’s what I’m comfortable with and confident in as well. That’s something that I’m actually proud of as well.”
It’s a more positive energy that Alexander Volkanovski is enveloped in ahead of UFC 273 however. “I’m pumped for this. I’m absolutely pumped,” he stated on Wednesday. “Obviously it’s a new face — well not really a new face, but I mean across the octagon from me. But he’s definitely a familiar fighter; he’s been around forever. It’s a guy that I’ve always wanted to fight, I’ve always thought I was going to fight.”
The Korean Zombie, he pointed out, has “been at the top of the game ever since this featherweight division was ever started.” Which makes the match-up “a legacy fight,” he continued. “This is someone that, I’ve taken out a lot of the legends, and I want to keep taking out legends. So he’s definitely one of them. He’s earned his spot, he definitely has.”
While there’s been talk of Volkanovski moving up to claim another title, another legacy move, he also knows he has “a division to hold. I will do that. Then we’re going to talk about other divisions and all that. Yeah, yeah we’ll do that.” First, however, the 145lb champ stated that “I want to defend this baby [the title] a few times this year. I want three fights this year. Again, this is going to be a big, massive year for me, and it starts Saturday night. Well, it starts now.”
Watch the full UFC 273 media day appearance by Alexander Volkanovski above. The event takes place this Saturday, April 9, 2022 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
