Alexander Volkanovski reveals "ridiculous" daily calorie intake for bulk to lightweight

Alexander Volkanovski will be moving up a weight division in his pursuit of a second UFC title. He will take on Islam Makhachev for the lightweight belt at UFC 284.

'The Great' began bulking up several months ago to compete at 155lbs and has now revealed the ridiculous number of calories he is required to consume every day to gain enough muscle.

Volkanovski recently released a video on his YouTube channel of him training with elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Craig Jones and Jozef Chen, where the featherweight champion grumbled about having to eat so much food:

"It's the worst. Eating. I'm bulking at the moment. It's the f***ing worst. I'm eating over 4000 calories. It's ridiculous, it's the worst."

Watch the video below from 5:05:

Alexander Volkanovski's affinity for cooking and love of food is well known, and he has an increasingly popular YouTube series called Cooking with Volk.

See a food collaboration between Volkanovski and rapper Action Bronson below:

The novelty of eating as much as he wants seems to have worn off as 'The Great' is less than two weeks away from his UFC lightweight debut.

The size and strength disparity between Volkanovski and Makhachev has been a talking point since the fight's announcement. However, leading MMA pundits Michael Bisping and Jon Anik, among others, believe that the contest is closer than meets the eye.

Alexander Volkanovski is the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the promotion, and Islam Makhachev would be wise not to underestimate the featherweight champion.

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Alexander Volkanovski doesn't want to hear excuses when he beats Islam Makhachev

Alexander Volkanovski heads into UFC 284 as a +300 underdog. Many who have trained with Islam Makhachev believe 'The Great' is in for a rude awakening when he faces the lightweight champion.

Makhachev has been touted as 'Khabib Nurmagomedov 2.0'. His coach Javier Mendez has stated that aside from the incredible grappling skills, the Dagestani star has superb striking too.

Alexander Volkanovski recently stated that he doesn't feel disrespected by people who have dismissed his chances against Makhachev. However, 'The Great' asserted that when he beats the lightweight champion, he doesn't want to hear people change the narrative surrounding the matchup.

Volkanovski recently spoke to David Adesanya on the FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel and stated:

"His grappling is legit, his wrestling is legit... this is a Rocky story right? I'm cool to go with that narrative. But as I said before, don't change it, don't all of a sudden say, 'Ah [Makhachev] is not that strong, he's not that big, he's not that good.' You guys think [Makhachev] is invincible, remember that when I get my hand raised. Don't change that s**t."

Watch the interview below from 3:40: