UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is expected to defend his title against Brian Ortega in February next month.
The Australian is coming off back to back wars against former champion Max Holloway at UFC 245 and UFC 251. Volkanovski emerged victorious both times.
Now with a new challenge ahead of him, he is looking forward to fighting former title challenger Brian Ortega, who earned his shot at the title by defeating Chan Sung Jung aka The Korean Zombie.
Alexander Volkanovski was surprised by Ortega’s performance who put on a clinic against Jung last year.
“It took me by surprise because I didn’t expect him to fight, I wouldn’t say fight smart, but his shot selection, a couple of things that I just didn’t expect,” Volkanovski told SCMP MMA (h/t The Body Lock). “I thought he would just be looking for the finish, that’s what he does.
“… But there, he showed patience, shot selection, fakes — a lot of things that we work on. Whether he took some notes out of our book, I don’t know, but he’s obviously stepped it up and he looked good.”
Alexander Volkanovski confident of getting a victory
With that being said, Alexander Volkanvski is confident of securing a victory. He stated that he will be utilising his pressure inside the cage and he will be on Ortega the whole time.
“It’s exciting for me but at the same time, I really do believe I’m just on a whole other level and I’m so well-rounded, I can take the fight wherever it is,” Volkanovski said. “I’m the guy that never quits. With me, it’s so easy to say I’m well-rounded but it goes so much deeper than that. There are so many little things that I just have down to a tee and I work so hard to make sure that I am such a complete fighter that if someone gives me trouble somewhere, I can always take it somewhere else. . .
“… There’s levels to this,” Volkanovski concluded. “I believe my pressure, when I use it, my pressure’s on a whole ‘nother level that not many people in the world have felt. Izzy, Israel Adesanya said himself that I’m half his size and when we’re sparring, he realizes this guy is pressuring me, getting me on the backfoot. ‘Wait a minute, this guy is half my size, I can’t let that happen.’ So he stands his ground. Before he knows it, he’s on the backfoot worrying about what I’m doing. … That’s something that you don’t understand until I’m standing in front of you.”
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