Alexander Volkanovski has been having some fun ahead of his next title defense.
The featherweight champion was watching closely during UFC 319 last month where it appeared that his next title challenger emerged.
Volkanovski named Lerone Murphy as his next opponent in the immediate aftermath of the Brit’s stunning knockout win over Aaron Pico.
Murphy is confident that he can pose Volkanovski some huge problems when they eventually meet inside the Octagon with the 145 pound belt on the line.
However, until then, ‘The Great’ has continued to be one of the most beloved fighters and entertainers in the sport, as a new video shows.
Alexander Volkanovski fakes an injury to ruthlessly prank a fan
Alexander Volkanovski may have recently brought back the ‘old man Volk’ character that drew a hilarious reaction from fans last year, but the latest video that he’s featured in was very different.
This time around, it wasn’t himself that the UFC champion was targeting, it was a fan that got the opportunity to meet him.
The start of the video, posted by The Unscripted Show, shows the podcasters talking about how they’ve set something up for their friend which Volkanovski is in on.
“Our video editor Ben is the biggest Volk fan you’ll ever meet, so we organized a little surprise, a chance to meet his hero, of course. But, what Ben doesn’t know was that Volk was also in on the prank. So, you know what? Let’s have a friendly wrestle, maybe fake an injury or two and let’s see Ben’s dream turn into his worst nightmare. Let’s go.”
When Volkanovski and the editor come face-to-face, it was mentioned that the fan does jiu-jitsu and has competed in some competitions.
The two men start to playfully grapple before, when the featherweight champion shoots in for a takedown, he immediately calls off the scramble and starts holding his neck.
“Nah, sorry. Yeah, it’s just the neck. It’s not your fault, I just got a cortisone in it. It was my fault anyways, I was shooting, I shouldn’t have done that.”
After the crew fake concerned reactions and state that they’ll have to inform Volkanovski’s manager, it’s the UFC star himself that breaks the news to the fan that he was only pretending, resulting in a priceless reaction.
Alexander Volkanovski was honest about not getting the fight that he was originally pushing for
Lerone Murphy cemented himself as Alexander Volkanovski’s next challenger with the biggest win of his career.
That being said, before ‘The Miracle’ made a statement, there was a different contender that many believed was deserving of the next title shot.
Volkanovski himself said that he was pushing to fight Movsar Evloev originally before admitting that Murphy has now surpassed him.
“I tried. I’m going to tell you right now, I tried to make that happen. I thought he deserves it. He did deserve it… It doesn’t look like it’s going to be Movsar, but I mean I tried with all of them.”
After Murphy’s stunning win in Chicago, it seems highly unlikely that anyone will jump in front of him in the title shot queue.