David Larsen 
@adminAt UFC 266 UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will be defending his featherweight throne against the top contender Brian Ortega. Volkanovski fought Max Holloway for the UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 245. He won the fight via unanimous decision. The fight was very close but they did enough to get the decision to win.
Alexander made his first title defense in a rematch against Max Holloway at UFC 251. He won the fight via split decision. The fight was a razor-close decision win for him and was tagged as a controversial win for him. This outcome was controversial amongst media outlets and MMA personalities such as UFC president Dana White and former referee John McCarthy, and multiple mixed martial artists.
Volkanovski was scheduled to make his second title defense against Brian Ortega at UFC 260. However, the fight was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. Volkanovski later tweeted that he tested positive for COVID-19.
Alexander Volkanovski Wants To Prove A Point
On April 2, 2021, it was announced that Brian Ortega and Volkanovski would be the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 29 at ESPN+. The show will feature contestants at bantamweight and middleweight. It was recently revealed that they both will fight each other by the end of the show at UFC 266.
“I believe my confidence right now is just on such a high,” Volkanovski told MMA Junkie. “I’ve always been confident in the job I need to do. Right now my confidence is on a whole other level to where winning is just not enough. Going out there, winning is good, people always remember the winner. But at the same time, you go out there and send a statement. You go out there and entertain, that’s what people are gonna remember.
“Right now, it’s just something different. While I’m in sparring, I’m trying to picture finishes everywhere no matter where it is. It’s all about the entertainment this time.I want to go out there and really send a statement. I want people leaving that arena going, ‘Wow, how good was that,’ absolutely blown away by what I went and done in there. So that’s something that I feel like has definitely changed.”
According to Volkanovski, he feels like he deserves more respect from fans than he usually gets. He feels like he hasn’t finished anyone for the title yet and that’s what he is looking to change in this fight.
“I’ve always had a wild pace being a high-volume type of fighter and things like that,” Volkanovski said. “But right now it’s going out there and – he’s obviously proved that he has a great chin, and he’s hard to be finished. I know I said this last fight, but I need to go out there, and I need to finish this fight. I want to go out there, and I want to put him away, and I want to put him away early.
“A lot of people think that can’t be done because he’s durable, but I definitely believe I can go out there and do that. That is my goal: going out there and finish. I won’t be happy unless I knock him out or even submit him or TKO or something like that. I’m going out there to do some damage and put on a show for everyone there.”
