Alexander Volkanovski reveals he offered to fight at UFC 303 following Conor McGregor’s withdrawal

Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski offered to fight at UFC 303 if the promotion needed.

UFC 303 was set to be headlined by a highly-anticipated matchup between Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor. However, the Irishman suffered an injury and was forced out of the bout and the UFC reportedly looked for new fights or potential people to replace McGregor.

During that time, Volkanovski says he told the UFC he would replace McGregor and fight Chandler, or fight on the card against whoever it they needed.

“I did put my hand up, I said ‘Do you need a guy?’ We all heard the whispers like you guys did. He didn’t show up to the press conference, heard whispers they were looking for someone to maybe replace. So I was like, ‘Hey, if you need someone, you know a guy,’ I did put my hand up. Obviously seen that some people put that up, so it got out there. Some people think I’m mad, but I am back into training now, and I am excited to get back in there. That’s all it takes, just a little thing like that, and I put my hand up.  But, it wasn’t me. I didn’t get the call back,” Alexander Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel.

“The UFC were like, ‘Oh no.’ They were sitting saying, ‘You’re a savage, but we’ll let you know if we need you’ type of thing. They knew I said earlier in the year and they said, ‘Look, let’s just have a bit of a break.’ So, they were obviously respecting that, so good on them for that. Even though I kept reminding them, everyday I’m like, ‘I’m being serious, let me know.’ But they were sticking to their guns and I guess looking after me. You got to give them respect for that, but I did want to save the day,” Volkanovski added.

As Alexander Volkanovski says, the UFC opted to keep him on the sidelines so he could take time off and heal as he said he would following the KO loss to Ilia Topuria. But, Volkanovski says he is back in training so he may return to the Octagon soon.

Alexander Volkanovski is 26-4 and coming off the KO loss to Topuria to lose his featherweight title. Before that, he suffered a KO loss to Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title.