35-year-old featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski is playing up his “old man” persona.
At Thursday’s UFC 298 press conference, Volkanovski showed up dressed as an old man in an effort to downplay his age being a factor in his upcoming fight against Ilia Topuria.
‘Just having a bit of fun with it, you know what I mean? You’ve got to do it. And for the people as well! Everyone appreciated the outfit so I wanted to do it in person.’
‘I think this old man needs to teach this young fella a lesson, what do you reckon?’
Topuria fired a shot at Volk over the way he was dressed. “You see how you came dressed? You already know what’s going to happen. You came ready for your retirement.”
Volkanovski immediately fired back, “Gonna get a good spanking, that’s what’s gonna happen
At one point of the press conference Paulo Costa had to wake up Volkanovski, who was pretending to be asleep.
Paulo Costa wakes up Old man Volk pic.twitter.com/CqFvpCFFmG
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) February 16, 2024
Topuria went on to tell Volk that he respected him as a fighter but that he was only following his dreams.
“I respect you as a person and as a professional. I’m just following my dreams.”
Respect. pic.twitter.com/8nEStqYAMg
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) February 16, 2024
Volkanovski and Topuria will face off against each other at UFC 298 this Saturday.
