UFC 294 - Alexander Volkanovski ready to 'shock the world' in rematch with Islam Makhachev

Alexander Volkanovski says he is ready to “shock the world” when he faces Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, live on TNT Sports.

Volkanovski was a late replacement for the fight in Abu Dhabi after Charles Oliveira pulled out due to a cut above his eye.

Lightweight champion Makhachev holds a 24-1 record and beat Volkanovski when they met earlier this year.

But despite his short preparation, and having undergone arm surgery earlier this year, Volkanovski thinks he is in a good place to take on Makhachev.

“At the end of the day, I don’t have the preparation, but what do I have? I have a fresh head, I’m physically and mentally fresh. I’m excited, I’m so free, no pressure at all,” he told Fox Sports.

“I needed this. It was doing my head in thinking I had to wait until January. It was all meant to be, I was doing my own head in as I needed to do something and this come up and I tell you, this is all a part of my story.

“The world’s turning for me right now and I can’t wait to go out there and shock the world.”

After losing to Makhachev in February, Volkanovski returned with victory over Yair Rodriguez in July.

He was not scheduled to fight until January, but says “there was a little bit of ego involved” when he got the chance to take on Makhachev again.

“It excites me. I always talk about challenges, and I look at this as a whole different level of challenge. I’ve always said I would do things like this, so I don’t want to be the guy who doesn’t when I’ve said I’m the guy I would,” he said.

“So maybe there was a little bit of ego involved. I accepted the fight with more doubt than I have now... now that I’m doing my sessions, well, I’m happy where I’m at.

“I thought I’d be a little bit more out of shape or more underdone when I actually accepted the fight... it’s like my body just knows when it’s time and my body knows. It flicked a switch.

“The day after I knew [about the fight] I ended up breaking records in my strength and conditioning gym and my jumping records. I never jumped that high in my whole life.

“It’s like now my body knows that you need to turn it up... you need to have extra power, extra explosiveness, extra knockout power, you need it all. It is like my body just knows to flick the switch everywhere and now I’m breaking records. It’s pretty crazy.”

UFC 294 will also feature a mouthwatering clash between Kamaru Usman and the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in the middleweight division.

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