Hilarious video shows Aussie MMA champion Alexander Volkanovski is afraid of something after all ahead of redemption shot at UFC 294: ‘Islam would do it’

It takes a lot to rattle UFC superstar Alex Volkanovski – but it appears the man they call ‘The Great’ isn’t a huge fan of open water.

In a video shared on the Home of Fight page via X, the 35-year-old Aussie wasn’t keen for a quick dip with his crew due to some recently applied stitches.

They could be heard playfully taunting Volkanovski, joking that his next fight opponent Islam Makhachev would jump in without hesitation.

It comes after Volkanovski, dubbed the featherweight king, shocked the world this week by agreeing to a re-match in UFC 294 on just 11 days notice.

‘Volk’ will have another chance to secure ‘champ-champ’ status after he was narrowly defeated by Makhachev via a controversial decision at UFC 284 this year in Perth.

In a video shared on the Home of Fight page via X , the 35-year-old Aussie wasn’t initially keen for a quick dip with his crew

The re-match in Abu Dhabi against the feared Russian reportedly also comes with a significant pay rise for the one-time rugby league prop from the NSW south coast.

Meanwhile, Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez believes Volkanovski will adopt different tactics as he seeks revenge.

‘He’s going to do more,’ Mendez told Submission Radio. 

‘He’s going to take chances, definitely more than last time. 

‘He’s not going to be worried about the takedowns, because he’s obviously survived the ground last time, and he also did his best work on the ground, not in the standup. 

‘So he’s not going to be afraid of anything. He’s going to come throwing.

‘He’s also not going to be too cautious. He’s just going to come at us because he feels he can handle whatever it is when he has to throw. ‘

Mendez went onto declare Makhachev is keen to silence any doubters who claim he lost the fight to Volkanovski in February.

It comes after Volkanovski, dubbed the featherweight king, shocked the world this week by agreeing to a re-match in UFC 294 against the Russian on just 11 days notice

‘This is the fight that I think needed to happen,’ he said. 

‘I wanted this one, for me. Because I felt that there was unfinished business. Not that I was thinking, ‘Oh, we didn’t win.’ We did win. And we won clearly, in my eyes. We won clearly.

‘In everybody’s eyes, when they watch it, turn the volume off, watch the fight…. you’ll see that Islam won the majority of every round. 

‘Apart from the last 45 seconds of the fifth round, he definitely lost that one. 

‘But other than that, he won. I just want clarity.

‘And Islam deserves, in my opinion, to be pound-for-pound No. 1. And this will justify that.’