Alexander Volkanovski admits he rushed into his UFC featherweight title defense against Ilia Topuria.
Just four months after he was knocked out in the first round by an Islam Makhachev head kick, Volkanovski turned around to face Topuria. Volkanovski was knocked out by Topuria at UFC 298, which had many questioning if he should have taken some time off.
Looking back, Volkanovski (27-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) said he should have taken the recovery from the Makhachev loss more seriously.
“I feel like I had more of a concussion from the Islam one, and even though I was knocked out longer with Ilia, I had a lot more of the symptoms with Islam,” Volkanovski said in an interview with Demetrious Johnson. “So, I probably should have had more of a break. I didn’t have head contact (when training for Topuria), but when you’re easing into it, making sure you’re not getting hit and trying to put yourself in safer positions, you even start camp wrong. I should have had the break.”
After suffering back-to-back knockouts, Volkanovski did end up taking some time off. He returned 14 months later to face Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight title at UFC 314. He won the bout by unanimous decision to reclaim his 145-pound belt.
“I probably should have done what I did after that fight, had the break,” Volkanovski said. “It was great, but whether I did that earlier, maybe it (Topuria fight) would have been different. We don’t know.”
