Alex Volkanovski walked into the UFC 298 press conference dressed as a viral grandpa — complete with reading glasses, a cardigan, and a flat cap — and proceeded to put young title challenger Ilya Topuria in his place.
Volkanovski, who was a crowd favorite, received the biggest cheers of the day, closely followed by Robert Whittaker and Georgian champion Merab Dvalishvili.
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria | Sunday, February 18 Order now with the main event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the new exclusive home for boxing and UFC Pay-Per-View events!
Meanwhile, Topuria was met with the loudest boos of the afternoon, and when he confronted Faulk on stage, the champion pretended to struggle from his chair, holding the back of it.
“It's time for this old man to teach him a lesson,” said Old Man Volkanovski.
“I'll hit him good, that's what's going to happen.
“He sees me dressed as an old man and wants to act like a tough guy. I'm not going to be like that on Saturday night. Saturday night I'm going to be scrawny and wipe the floor with you. I'm going to make it look easy.”
A clearly agitated Topuria couldn't get a word into the microphone before the raucous crowd drowned him out with a deafening chorus of boos.
The undefeated challenger was reduced to yelling at the crowd to “shut the fuck up” and dragging his finger at members of the audience.
At one point, while Topuria was trying to answer a question, Volkanovski “fell asleep,” before saying his hearing wasn't the best.
Getting more and more desperate, Topuria jumped up and grabbed Volkanovski's belt. This was the only point in the pressure at which the Australian broke character.
“You might as well make use of it now,” he shouted. “You'll never see him again. I'll kick your ass and teach you a lesson.”
“Maybe you'll be a hero one day, but until then, keep your hands off my belt.”
Volkanovski also doubled down on his promise to be ready for UFC 300 in April.
“I'll talk to (Dana) about if they find something for UFC 300, maybe I can save the show,” he said. “I'm not lying about it.
“This old dog still has a lot of fight left in him.”
Cejudo Volkanovski Beef is the real deal
Henry Cejudo and Alex Volkanovski laughed and shook hands when they ran into each other at the Fighter Hotel this week, but the American insists it's not all sunshine and roses between them.
That's because Volkanovski, quite simply, has what Cejudo wants — the featherweight belt.
The former flyweight and bantamweight champion, who considers himself the greatest combat sports athlete of all time, even revealed that he planned to walk straight into a title fight with Faulk when he came out of retirement last year.
“I wanted to fight him when he was 145 — right away,” Cejudo said in the headline announcement. “It's something that's never been done.
“I'm going to talk to Dana about it, because I want this story to get out. This is about naming it and getting it out there.”
Cejudo must first get past the dangerous Merab Dvalishvili at bantamweight this weekend before he can start planning the Volkanovski fight.
Like Topuria, Dvalishvili has a Georgian background, which puts Volk and Cejudo on the same side, but “Triple C” brushes aside any talk of them becoming friends.
“I am not friends with anyone when it comes to achieving my goals and dreams,” he said. “Volkanovski is the man, but that's why I want to fight him.”
Earlier in fight week, Volkanovski claimed Cejudo was jealous of his long title reign and the things he has achieved in the sport.
“What? Noooo!” Cejudo laughs when asked about those comments. “I wouldn't even put John Jones' awards above my own.
“The Olympic champion, the youngest in history, champion of both divisions and defended in both – something he could not do.
“Are you kidding me? No one comes close to me, especially Volkanovski. I've got two Guinness World Records. What records has he got?”
What might have been
In another life, Justin Tafa would have strapped on a pair of football boots and run into Allegiant Stadium for an NRL team's historic first match in Las Vegas in two weeks.
A former Warriors and Melbourne Storm player, Tafa ditched his football boots for cage fighting five years ago and is now knocking on the door of a place in the top 15 heavyweight rankings.
But Auckland-born Tava says rugby league has always remained close to his heart.
“I still love watching football, and it's good to see the National Football League come to Las Vegas and expand the game,” Tava said in the masthead ahead of his heavyweight bout with Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC 289 this weekend.
“Since I was young, I wanted to be all black, just like every other Kiwi kid growing up. But then I found rugby league and fell in love with it.
“I couldn't sleep before games, so I was excited to play.”
Tafa gradually lost his passion for rugby league, but he could always throw hands.
“I was probably a better fighter on the field than a football player,” he joked. “But once I realized I didn't like it, and didn't want to be great at it, I left.
“I want to be great in (the fight). I'm coming off three knockouts in a row, so it's time to rank.
“The way this division is going right now, even with four more wins, I can put it up there in the (title) conversation.”
For now, that means turning first to Jon Jones – one of the greatest people to ever do it.
But Tava says he doesn't think that fight will ever happen.
“You fight to beat the best, and now he's the best, but realistically, I don't think he'll still be there by the time I get to the top 10,” Tafa said. “He said he just wanted one more fight.”
