I'm like one of those little chihuahua's that thinks they're ten feet tall.
Alexander Volkanovski
It's one of the things that I tend to do, make the right decision, right time, and get the right reactions and capitalize on it.
When it comes to strength, I reckon pound for pound I'm one of the strongest in the whole UFC.
A lot of times we're being portrayed as thugs, but anyone who really knows us understand that we work hard, we diet hard, the commitment is full on. But alot of people don't see that. Some of the nicest and most respectful people I've ever met are in this sport. I truly believe that, and there's a lot of fighters that live by that.
I didn't think I could make the NRL, but I was confident in myself that I could make the UFC.
I'm chasing my contenders. I'm talking about that GOAT status.
I've got all the tools to make it hard for anyone, especially someone that's a division lower than me.
I'm a freak when it comes to holding on the ground; it's just almost impossible holding me on the ground.
When it comes to pace, we know that I don't have a problem.
My father is from the village of Beranci, Macedonia, and my mother is from Greece.
I literally cringe every time I see someone trying to trash talk. Some people just don't have it and they try, and I find that funny.
I like to throw bombs.
No one is really playing the good guy, but if they want to play the bad guy, I'm ready to play the super hero and take these guys out.
I think a knockout over Elkins will really put me on the radar internationally.
I train with whoever I can, all different sizes, shapes, and styles.
That's the thing, I've got so many ways to go, even striking there's so many ways to go. I proved that.
I wrestled before rugby league so I always had a pretty good wrestling background, a good base, and that helped with my football. It just meant my balance was always so good; a strong core, good hips and just things like that just really played a factor in how I ran the ball and tackled.
Anyone that's watched my career knows that I finish fights and that I'm one scary dude to be in the cage with.
Some people fight and stuff outside the cage, but I never liked that sort of thing. I just always wanted to do martial arts and I finally did it at 22 years old, so later in life, but it's all good.
I'm always my hardest critic.
My right-hand hit is my favourite.
When Elkins came forward I was absolutely ecstatic. It's a massive fight. Realistically he doesn't need to take this fight, but he did - good on him. I've got a lot of respect for him, but I think this is a very dangerous fight for him. Again, he's a grinder, he wears people down, but I don't wear out, especially when I'm in good condition.
When I'm training; I'm prepared for anything.
I know I can go for days. I've proved this time and time again, against grinders.
I'm the type of person, I'll fight whoever.
Ground and pound is my thing, everyone knows that.
Everyone knows my style - I jam my hips in, jam their head into the mat and punch their head through the canvas.
I've been on magazines in Macedonia and all things like that.
I'm going to be a great champion.
I had bad back injuries; two bulging discs and a broken fragment off a disc, all in my sciatic nerve.
Robert Whittaker has really opened eyes, look what he's doing.
I'm used to big boys. I train with big boys all the time.
I won't say too much but Conor McGregor, he likes to set a lot of traps. But they're things I would never get caught up in. The guy isn't exactly known for his cardio either, so I'd crumble him. Make it look easy.
I've pictured myself fighting a whole bunch of people. Not only the Max Holloway, but also Conor, Cejudo, Korean Zombie, even Khabib Nurmagomedov.
You know, martial arts is all about respect and discipline and it's always been about that. But again, people are starting to forget that, people are missing that, and this is where I believe I can help and it's good for our sport.
You know, people are always asking, 'What's your brand?' and, 'What are you all about?' Then you get other people saying, 'You need to do what Connor McGregor does.' But that's not me. That's not who I am. I'm not going to talk trash and build off the bad boy image.
I pride myself on being a family man. I pride myself on being respectful and hardworking. That's just me.
I'll be honest when I tell you, Max Holloway is the hardest matchup out of everyone in our division. By far. And I was happy to take him back to back.
I ain't scared of nobody.
I've already took out the hardest guys in my division. Back to back we've got Chad Mendes, Aldo, and Max. Stylistically, they were the three hardest fights.
I like to stay active. I'm one of the champions chasing the contenders.
I played rugby league, I probably played for about 10 years I think, and I wrestled before then. I did about a year of wrestling, and I think I got a bit tired of the tights, so I started to play football with the mates. I used to be a front rower, the big guys up front. I used to be 97 kilograms, which is like 210 pounds, or something like that.
My first four fights in amateur at middleweight, and the first four professional were at welterweight. And I just kind of went down from there.
I've always loved UFC. I watched it back since the days it wasn't big in Australia at all, and you had to watch a Blockbuster videos. They would always come like a year late, but I tried as many of the live ones I could or wait for the videos to come out. So, I've loved the sport for that long. I've always been into martial arts.
There are no excuses in fighting. You can be playing a team sport and have a good game, and you can lose. In fighting, it's all on me. If I go out there and lose, then it's my fault. I like that.
You see what I can use in my range, even with tall people, imagine what I could do to someone half my size.
Khabib is one of the GOATs as well. Nothing but respect for the dude. But I'm very, very hard to hold down.
Nothing but respect to all the fighters that are in the UFC, but every single one of us wants to prove something. And you know, eventually, I want to prove myself in that lightweight division too.
I've obviously got the brains. I've got the cardio.
I've had staph a few times myself and MRSA.
