Former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski’s reign atop the 145-pound division came to a sudden a violent end on Saturday in the UFC 298 main event.  

Volkanovski faced the undefeated Ilia Topuria and was knocked out in the second round.  Volkanovski held the title since December 2019.  “The Great” released a video statement following the loss vowing to ‘get that belt back.’

“What’s up guys.  I thought I’d do a video to just let you know I’m all good and obviously to talk about what happened,” Volkanovski said in a video posted to his YouTube channel.  

“This is a crazy game we play.  You can’t win them all.  Sometimes you’re the hammer and sometimes you’re the nail.  Last night I was the nail.  I’ve been the hammer many times.  I’ve ruined a lot of people’s party many times,” Volkanovski continued.  “Ilia got the job done.  I thought I was doing great.  I felt great in there.  I think the judges had me up the first round and I think I was starting to pick it up even more in the second round.  I was ready to go even another level.  I had him missing, starting to touch him, and then I was going to start adding on.

“He did a great job of getting me to the cage where we knew we didn’t want to be with someone like him.  And he got me there and I probably had better options than looking for a counter.  After he backed me up there, he caught me.  He did a great job to find that.  It was a great shot and that’s all you need in his sport, but next time it’ll be different.”  

Volkanovski wants an immediate rematch and believes he deserves one considering how long he held the title.          

“I’m just going to have a little bit of a rest.  I definitely want that rematch.  Spain, what I’m hearing, is going to happen.  Dana [White] wants Spain.  Obviously, Ilia wants Spain.  That probably won’t be until later in the year, so obviously the timing would be perfect for me to spend some time with the fam, rest up a little bit, look after myself, and then we’ll get back in there and we’ll  make it right.  We’ll make it right on my end.  So, I’m going to do everything right for the next one and I’m going to get that belt back.  Mark my words,” he said.  

“All I can say is, I’ll be back.”    

Related: Dana White answers why Conor McGregor hasn’t fought

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos