After Emotional Post-Fight Presser, Volkanovski Says He’s in Good Place Mentally

Following an emotional session at the UFC 294 press-conference, there was plenty of concern for Alexander Volkanovski’s mental well-being.

With his first-round knockout loss to Islam Makhachev a few more days in the rearview mirror, Volkanovski addressed his mindset in a video on his YouTube channel. The UFC’s reigning featherweight champion admitted that the defeat weighed heavily on him, but he also made it clear that he’s in a good place mentally overall.

“So straight after the fight, I did the post-fight press conference and I want people to understand that, yeah, there was a raw emotion seen, but I want everyone to know that I’m OK,” Volkanovski said. “I think that people have to remember that I did just come off getting tagged, knocked out. I lost. I knew that legacy wise and all that, all those things start coming into play, so that was obviously hurting me.”

In the immediate aftermath of the loss, Volkanovski lobbied for a quick turnaround, targeting the UFC’s January pay-per-view event for his next Octagon appearance. While he admitted that fighting and being in camp gives him a sense of purpose, he’s still also a devoted family man. Sometimes, the two things go hand-in-hand.

“Sometimes you put a lot of pressure on yourself because I know I need to make the most of me in my prime because my days are numbered,” Volkanovski said. “Me and my wife, we’re great. We have a beautiful family, and we’re good. I want everyone to know that. I don’t want everyone thinking that it’s not like that.

“It’s just me trying to deal with being a high-performance athlete and me not being able to fulfill that side of things, especially the last three months. When I’m in camp, there’s a specific direction, I know exactly what’s happening and it’s easy when it comes to that, and I’m still very present at home. I’m probably even a better dad when I’m in camp. I’m ticking all the boxes, but it was harder to do that the last few weeks when everything was happening. I want everyone to know that it was just more of the timing, and that’s why you see me a little more vulnerable in the press conference after getting knocked out and having that sort of situation.”

Volkanovski also admitted that taking the rematch against Makhachev on short notice might have negatively affected his performance on fight night.

“I think it was pretty clear you could see that it wasn’t me in there,” he said. “You can obviously put that down to preparation. I’m a big believer in preparation. Everyone knows that, and I just wasn’t as prepared as I usually am. I think you need to have them sparring rounds, you need to see the shots, you need to have these bodies in front of you consistently to help you when it comes to fight time. I didn’t have that.”

Volkanovski has rarely looked more vulnerable than he did following UFC 294, but he believes it’s a positive to create more awareness regarding mental health — particularly for athletes.

“One thing that I do want to say, even though I’m fine, I’m sort of glad you guys got to see that raw emotion, and we do touch on the mental side of things when it comes to everyone, not just fighters and athletes, anyone in general.” Volkanovski said. “I think that it’s good for awareness. I think these are conversations people should be having.”