Alexander Volkanovski admits being "cheeky" while talking to Islam Makhachev's corner in round 4

Alexander Volkanovski has acknowledged that he was being "cheeky" while talking to Islam Makhachev's corner during their barnburner last weekend. UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski challenged for UFC lightweight champion Makhachev's title at UFC 284 on February 12.

The closely-contested matchup saw Makhachev defeat Volkanovski via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, and 49-46). Regardless, many believe that Volkanovski ought to have been awarded the decision victory.

In the latest edition of The MMA Hour, host Ariel Helwani suggested that Volkanovski appeared in control in round four of the fight but was distracted as he was talking to Makhachev's corner. Makhachev notably capitalized on this, took Volkanovski down, secured the back, and held on to a body lock to outpoint him and win the round.

Ariel Helwani asked Alexander Volkanovski whether he agreed with the UFC commentary team's assessment that his momentary lapse in judgment led to the takedown. Volkanovski agreed and stated:

"Yeah, I was being cheeky. So, he was just going there, and I'm just looking at his corner. I'm like, [talking to Makhachev's corner]... Then he's just like, just jumping and got the hooks in. I even laughed, as in, you know, that was silly. You're just gloating too much."

"Again, I'll do that type of stuff to get in the head and all that. But that got him that position. Again, on my end, that was a little mistake by me. I could've bounced up and put it on him because, obviously, he was very tired at that stage. That's why he just wanted to hold on."

Alexander Volkanovski opined that Islam Makhachev was exhausted and did what he could do, which was to hold on and survive and to try to win the round. Furthermore, he recalled Makhachev's pre-fight claims, wherein the latter had vowed to finish Volkanovski early and dominantly. 'Volk' jested that Makhachev wasn't trying to finish him but simply trying to hold on and survive the round.

Watch Volkanovski discuss the topic at 15:34 in the video below:

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Alexander Volkanovski revisits his fight against Islam Makhachev, protests loss, and calls for a rematch

Many believe that newly-crowned interim UFC featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez is likely to serve as UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski's next opponent. However, Volkanovski has indicated that he'd prefer to settle his feud with Islam Makhachev first.

Alexander Volkanovski highlighted that he watched the tape of his UFC 284 showdown against Islam Makhachev and feels that he won three of their fight's five rounds. While Volkanovski's next matchup hasn't been officially announced as of yet, he's lobbying to fight Makhachev in an immediate rematch. 'The Great' tweeted:

"Just watched the fight, I definitely think I won 2,3 and 5. Surprised I didn’t get my hand raised! Let’s do the rematch, anywhere, anytime!"