Morning Report | Alexander Volkanovski coach reveals UFC 325 pre-fight injury: ‘We didn’t think he was going to fight’

Alexander Volkanovski did what he does best at UFC 325: Win championship fights. But making it to Saturday’s event was a challenge in and of itself.

Speaking to Daniel Cormier following Volkanovski’s second featherweight title triumph over Diego Lopes, Volkanovski coach Joe Lopez revealed that the Australian star suffered a serious injury a month before fight week. And pulling out was a serious consideration.

“To be fair, Alex, four weeks ago, we didn’t think he was going to fight,” Lopez told Cormier. “He pulled his shoulder out. Really. He’s been compromised for the last four weeks with a busted shoulder.”

If Volkanovski was hindered by a shoulder injury, it wasn’t evident in his rematch with Lopes as he put on a strong five-round performance. Lopes had a handful of moments where he threatened to pull off the upset, but Volkanovski kept his composure and consistently won the striking exchanges to earn a convincing win on the scorecards and retain his title.

Lopez noted the most important change they made was mental as they felt Volkanovski may have been his own worst enemy when he first fought Lopes at UFC 314.

“Like I’ve been saying, after the first fight, Volk was sort of second-guessing himself the whole of the first Diego camp,” Volkanovski said. “With this camp, Volk was back to himself. He was confident, didn’t have to say anything, it was just old Volk back again.”

At 37, Volkanovski is now the oldest fighter to successfully defend the UFC featherweight title. A healthy lineup of challengers awaits him with undefeated contenders Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy waiting in the wings—possibly having to fight each other to earn their shot at Volkanovski.

Whoever is next, Volkanovski has made it clear he welcomes any opponent the UFC presents to him. How much longer he plans to fight is another question, but Lopez joked that his team isn’t going to push Volkanovski to lay down the gloves anytime soon.

“Maybe we can get another four [years] out of him,” Lopez said.

…What. Jarrell Miller got hit so hard his toupee came off.

Hater. Paddy Pimblett isn’t hiding his glee at seeing rival Dan Hooker lose at UFC 325.

Interminable. Shavkat Rakhmonov is still dealing with injury.

Beef? Alexander Volkanovski is confused as to why Jean Silva has taken issue with him.

Strength. Mauricio Ruffy dealt with the death of his brother among other painful challenges ahead of Rafael Fiziev win.

TBD. Check out the UFC 326 main card… which doesn’t have a co-main event yet?

Ouch. Diego Lopes thinks he might have broken both of his feet on Saturday.

On To the Next One. The Best Friends Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee figure out what’s next for the big winners of UFC 325, a card that just barely nudged the needle.

Relive the UFC 325 Watch Party.

José Youngs joins New York Ric on Submission Radio.

Blaine Henry reacts to UFC 325.

ICYMI, Jed Meshew threw down with Luke Thomas on Prop Quiz.

Demetrious Johnson breaks down the UFC 325 main card.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

I bet Malkoun’s hands are hurting something fierce, though!

Well, that certainly a smoother viewing experience. Big props to the UFC and Paramount for a well-paced show, even if the lineup wasn’t exactly electrifying.

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