Between Calvin Kattar vs. Josh Emmett, Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez, and Calvin Kattar vs. Arnold Allen, he expected someone to make a statement. But two of those crucial fights ended due to injury and the other was controversial.
Find out what’s going on in the featherweight division
“I was waiting for a real statement. It disappointed me and I was really sad that no one could make this statement,” Volkanovski said. “You had three guys (Emmett, Rodriguez, Allen) and someone was going to have to missed; whoever it was, they would all have been disappointed. They’re all in the same boat.
That’s why Rodriguez and Emmett will battle it out for the UFC interim featherweight title in the co-main event of UFC 284 and Volkanovski expects Arnold to be next after that.
“It’s fine with me. I don’t think it’s disrespectful at all. I was okay with that even before I fought for the lightweight title,” Volkanovski said of the interim belt. Rodriguez and Emmett are fighting, they’re gonna give me a clear number one. This is setting up my next clear fight at featherweight. I await it with impatience. Glad it’s on the same map as me and Islam.
See Volkanovski’s athlete profile here
All Volkanovski wants is to fight the best. That’s why he’s challenging Makhachev and that’s why he wants one of the featherweight contenders to come to the fore.
“UFC 284 is going to be a night that people are going to talk about,” Volkanovski said. “I could have been healthy, defended my belt, stayed on top and added to my winning streak at featherweight. But that’s not how I am. What’s more important than that is is to fight like this with Makhachev. You want people to think there are things you can’t do and then prove them wrong.
“It’s the shit that can take you from being great to being one of the greats.”
