"Picking him up off the floor, not allowed" - Alexander Volkanovski believes he should have won his fight against Brian Ortega via TKO after the 3rd round

Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski feels he should have beaten Brian Ortega via TKO in round three of their title fight at UFC 266 last Saturday.

The third round of the main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was one of the greatest title rounds in UFC history. Both Volkanovski and Ortega could have won the fight in that round. However, it was the latter who came out worse in the tussle for supremacy.

In a recent edition of The Schmozone Podcast, Alexander Volkanovski claimed that the doctor who inspected Brian Ortega's condition felt the need to stop the bout. However, referee Herb Dean and the fighter himself wanted to go on. Volkanovski said:

"Picking him up off the floor, not allowed. That's a TKO in itself. Your corner is not allowed to get you to your stool. I'm pretty sure that is an actual rule. You can see that the doctor wanted to stop it. Herb wanted to keep the fight going. I was zoned in listening to exactly what was said. He (Ortega) was looking the wrong way, stumbling."

Volkanovski added:

"At one stage, I was thinking that he wants out. So I'm like that's it he's done. How's he gonna come back from this? And then next minute he's still pretty sharp and back on his feet. I'm like maybe I've got to be careful still. Credit to him. How can you not respect him after getting through all that?"

Watch Alexander Volkanovski and Dan Hooker in conversation with co-hosts The Schmo aka Dave Schmulenson and Helen Yee below:

Volkanovski had his City Kickboxing gym teammate Dan Hooker by his side during the podcast. Hooker was also involved in UFC 266 and defeated Nasrat Haqparast in a lightweight contest during the preliminary card.

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Alexander Volkanovski displaces City Kickboxing teammate Israel Adesanya as No. 3 in P4P rankings

Alexander Volkanovski's unanimous decision victory at UFC 266 took him past another City Kickboxing gym teammate and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the promotion's men's pound-for-pound rankings.

The Australian superstar currently occupies the third spot on the list while Adesanya is fourth. Welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman also displaced former two-time light heavyweight champ Jon Jones as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.

Alexander 'The Great' Volkanovski is likely to face the winner of the Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez UFC Fight Night main event.