Alex Volkanovski handed The Korean Zombie a potentially career ending beating at UFC 273. The Australian is at the pinnacle of the sport and afterwards he sat down for a far reaching interview with TMZ.
The Australian discussed a wide range of topics. He was adamant that it wasn’t time for The Korean Zombie to retire just yet and also admitted there is one fight that really wants.
Volkanovski would like to fight former featherweight champion Conor McGregor. The Irishman has not been at 145lbs since 2015 but it is a matchup the reigning champion in that division would love for the UFC to make:
UFC champ Alexander Volkanovski tells us he's very interested in a Conor McGregor fight … https://t.co/zzj6tQw0YL
— TMZ (@TMZ) April 24, 2022
Long shot
Discussing the possibility of a matchup against McGregor he said,
“It’s always going to interest a lot of people. It’s always going to be a big fight, there’s always going to be money, there’s going to be a circus, it’s going to be entertaining, it’s going to be fun, I’ll enjoy that whole fu**ing thing.”
While the idea of McGregor being next for the featherweight champion sounds a bit unlikely Volkanovski also had a lot to say on the subject of his last fight. The Korean Zombie stepped up to replace Max Holloway and challenge for the belt for the second time.
Volkanovski inflicted a one sided beating on the Korean veteran but despite this he does not believe Chan Sun Jung should retire. Although he does admit that,
“I started feeling bad with some of the shots I was landing in there. I could see obviously he was done.”
An absolute clinic by @AlexVolkanovski to retain his belt 👑 #UFC273 pic.twitter.com/bjTSTK5zGw
— UFC (@ufc) April 10, 2022
Best in the business
It is not a good sign at the elite level of combat sport when opponents start being sympathetic. Volkanovski admitted to feeling ‘bad’ when The Korean Zombie was giving his post fight interview,
“I felt bad because you could see he was a bit emotional after the fight. I obviously couldn’t understand him, but I knew he was like talking about retiring and all that.”
But Volkanovski wants The Korean Zombie to realize there is no shame in being beaten by the best in the business,
“I wanted him to understand that it doesn’t matter who was there in front of me, that was going to happen, so don’t be so hard on yourself. Because if you were in front of someone else that night, it wouldn’t have looked that way.”
