LAS VEGAS – The Alexander Volkanovsky vs. Max Holloway rivalry appears to be over.
The UFC featherweight champion successfully defended his belt against Holloway and put his record against the Hawaiian at 3-0. The two fight in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 276 at the sold-out T-Mobile Arena.
It was a dominant performance from Volkanovski (25-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC), who has been linked to Holloway for the past three years given their position atop the division.
“This rivalry has been a little bit of a journey,” Volkanovski told reporters at the UFC 276 post-fight press conference. “Like getting the belt and the rematch and all that talk and all that was a small part of my career and it adds to the story. It was hard. There were a lot of ups and downs there. There was a bit I had to go through, but it was good to finally put an end to it and shut a lot of people up.”
Even as champion, many fans and pundits believed that Holloway was still better than Volkanovsky and saw him as the uncrowned champion of the weight class. Volkanovski is convinced that this is now a thing of the past and wants to move on to bigger things.
Volkanovski revealed that he may have suffered a broken arm in the fight. The injury may affect the timeline of his goals, but not change them.
“Let me see what’s going on with (my arm),” Volkanovski said. “It gives me time to see what’s going on and maybe see what’s going on in my division. I want to be active, but if it’s not the opponents, maybe injuries will slow me down a bit. But other than that, I have to stay active and I want that dual champion status. And like I said, I can stay active enough and I’ve proven it. What, three fights in nine months? I just fought three months ago, not many champions do that. I don’t think I can get a #1 contender that fast and keep me that busy, so give me another division.”
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