Alexander Volkanovski jokes about stepping in last minute to fight for welterweight title at UFC 304: "This is not disrespectful"

Alexander Volkanovski has become known for taking short-notice bouts, and he recently suggested he'd be willing to step in for the UFC 304 main event if required. That being said, it's unlikely that the former UFC featherweight champion was being serious.

In a recent interview with The Mac Life, the former UFC featherweight champion and former multi-time UFC lightweight title challenger indicated a level of interest in seeking gold in a third weight category. That is if either current divisional kingpin Leon Edwards or challenger Belal Muhammad were to have to pull out last minute from this weekend's pay-per-view headliner in Manchester, England.

Alexander Volkanovski said,

"You never know. Leon or someone gets injured, it's like do I need to go to welterweight, the heavyweights? Mate, believe it or not I'd do it. It'd be a good pay cheque for that one. I'm actually good mates with Leon but I mean if I've got to save the day, you've got to save the day, you know what I mean? He's a great fighter so that's gonna be a tough fight [laughs]."

He added:

"This is not disrespectful, stylistically Belal, you know what I mean? I mean he's gonna be offended by that but I mean like no, I'm not trying to offend you but that's a fight that I believe I could do. Leon Edwards, obviously I believe in myself all the time, but Leon's good. Like Leon's good. He's very, very threatening in so many areas. I'm not saying Belal's not."

Volkanovski went on to say how Belal is more strategy-oriented, and that he is certainly capable of developing good gameplan, but that Muhammad and his team would have their work cut out for them in order to outstrategize Volkanovski.

Check out Volkanovski's comments below:

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Alexander Volkanovski's history as a short-notice replacement

Alexander Volkanovski notably stepped up on less than two weeks' notice for a rematch with the reigning UFC lightweight champion and the sport's number one pound-for-pound fighter in Islam Makhachev. The bout took place at UFC 294.

'The Great' has now taken on meme status in this regard. Jokes surrounding Volk stepping up last minute in a variety of situations are now commonplace among the mixed martial arts community on social media.

He also did this before the last pay-per-view card as well, when he offered to step into the headliner and take on Michael Chandler following Conor McGregor and his withdrawal from that matchup due to injury.

Check out Alexander Volkanovski's breakdown of the UFC 304 card here: