"Go out there and cement your status" - Mark Zuckerberg sends Alexander Volkanovski personalized video message for UFC 294

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is set to take on lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 294 on October 21.

The two champions will lock horns in a title rematch in Abu Dhabi after previously clashing at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia.

Volkanovski will not be in his home country for the fight and will be outnumbered when it comes to fan support. However, he received some words of encouragement from a special friend.

Nina Marie Daniele acted as an intermediary and lined up a motivational message from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook co-founder expressed his excitement for the fight and backed 'The Great' to secure a second belt and cement his legacy.

Zuckerberg said:

“Hey Volk! Really excited for your fight this weekend. Your last one was already one of the best fights of the year and this time, I’m looking forward to seeing you go out there and cement your status as one of the greatest of all time. Alright, good luck and have fun out there, man.”

Volkanovski showed his appreciation for the video, saying:

“How good’s that. Not every day you get a shout out from Mark Zuckerberg, eh? It’s pretty incredible. So uh, that’s legit. Now look, uh, obviously you know we keep in touch anyway so he’s been great but uh, that’s cool. We’re usually just doing voice messages or messaging but to see him actually saying that, that’s cool. It is cool. I appreciate that, thank you.”

Check out the segment below [4:10]:

Alexander Volkanovski and Mark Zuckerberg have trained together before and enjoy a cordial friendship.

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Alexander Volkanovski wants to finish Islam Makhachev at UFC 294

Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev had one of the tightest contests of the year at UFC 284. The bout was ruled in favor of Makhachev.

However, Volkanovski has other plans this time around. In an interview on The MMA Hour, he said:

“I believe I finish him. I think you’re gonna see probably one of the most dangerous Volkanovskis you’ve ever seen, just purely because I can’t afford to do anything else. Stuff leaving it to the judges. Stuff any of that. Let’s just go out there and really set a statement. Go and knock him out? That’s going be an absolutely mind-blowing for the world to see.”

Check out his comments below [6:26]: