Former UFC Featherweight champion Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski has shown interest in a potential short-notice replacement at UFC 303
International Fight Week is the UFC’s annual week-long celebration of all things combat sports. Commencing Monday 24th June and culminating in a UFC pay-per-view on Saturday 29th June.
This year UFC 303 is set to highlight the celebrations of the 12th annual International Fight Week. A fight card headlined by the long-awaited showdown of Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler.
But recent uncertainty surrounding the main event has cast doubt over whether the fight may be cancelled.
Main Event in Doubt, Leaving Room for Alexander Volkanovski?
Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler were scheduled to have a press conference scheduled on June 3rd in Dublin, Ireland. The press conference was intended to give an exciting early-access look at the two opponents in McGregor’s home country to garner extra hype for the bout.
Tickets for the event sold out in less than ten minutes. However, the press conference was postponed just 12 hours before it was scheduled to take place.
This has led many to question whether the fight may be in jeopardy due to the sudden unexplained postponement of the press conference. Conor McGregor has apologised to fans on social media but neither he, Chandler or UFC have commented on the status of the fight.
Ariel Helwani reported yesterday that the UFC has put feelers out to potential replacement fighters. This may suggest the fight is likely to be cancelled.
But one keen fan favourite Alexander Volkanovski has openly put his name in the hat for the opportunity to step in.
“The Great” Volunteers to “Save” UFC 303
“The Great” expressed his interest in stepping up on short notice for UFC 303. In an interview on Submission Radio, he said:
“You’re hearing all these whispers, ‘What’s going on with Conor McGregor?’ and whatnot. Maybe they need a late notice replacement again, so I’m always keen to throw my hand up.”
He went on to state that as long as the opponent is right McGregor or not he’d be willing to save the day. Volk added:
“Yeah, 100% (I’d be interested in fighting Chandler). As long as it’s a big fight, I wouldn’t just take any fight, like you said that (the UFC 303 main event) is a big deal, save the day, I don’t know. I feel like I just love to save the day, I’m just that good of a guy,”
The former Featherweight champion hasn’t fought since losing his belt to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 in February. The prospect of saving another card, just like he did at UFC 294, seems to have piqued the Aussies interest.
Only time will tell whether UFC 303 will be seeking a replacement main event, and will “The Great” save the day again.
Featured image credit to Embed from Getty Images