Alexander Volkanovski is taking some time off.
In a span of four months, the former UFC Featherweight Champion has been dealt some damage in back-to-back KO losses to champs Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.
The newly-crowned Topuria would be the first man to take away Volkanovski's 145lb title as well as his undefeated record at the weight class, finishing him in the second round of their title fight.
Coping with the loss for nearly two weeks, Volkanovski reflects on what went wrong for him at UFC 298.
"How do I feel about the performance? The part of the disappointment after the week after the fight, that was probably from how I performed," Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. "Was it absolutely terrible? No, probably not. But did I feel like myself in there? No, not really.
"I think it's probably clear for most people that you know I probably didn't look myself in there, and there's a few things that you know could come into play with that. Obviously, Ilia's game plan in that even though we knew, he did pretty much what we expected him to do, but just things that I could have done better."
Featherweight contender Brian Ortega said last week that we didn't get to see 'the same Volk' on fight night and it looks like his former foe thinks so, too.
Volkanovski did win the opening round versus Topuria, but his momentum was eventually disrupted by 'El Matador's' KO power in the second round.
"I just didn't fight my fight," Volkanovski added. "I felt like I was fighting to not get caught. So, that's just not my style. Obviously, I'm gonna want that rematch, so I can't give too much away, but yeah, pretty disappointed. I think it's pretty clear. Most people could probably see that It wasn't the exact Volk we've seen out there, a bit of 2 minds in there really.
Not too happy with the performance, but even though I was ahead, obviously, the judges gave me the first round, and, you know, the second round was still going my way, but... patterns that I'll just kept doing just to avoid certain things, and obviously didn't want to get caught and that was on my mind a lot in there.
Volkanovski continued to reflect on his title loss, giving more props to Topuria.
"So, I had patterns and made it very easy. Even though I was working, I was making him miss early. But, I gave him a good opportunity to make the right adjustments. You need the right fighter to make adjustments in them situations, so you've got to give Ilia the credit there. So, I don't wanna sound like I'm making excuses, but it's a simple way to say I just didn't feel myself out there, and let him make the right adjustment, and then he did. So, again, congratulations, Ilia. He capitalized on on that situation."
Alexander 'The Great' wants nothing more than to conquer the featherweight division once again, but before the former champ does so, he says he needs some much-needed rest.
"I'm gonna let the head rest a little," Volkanovski said of his post-fight plans. "A break is obviously good for the head, so it makes sense, and I know I ain't fighting till the rematch, which isn't gonna be till later this year anyway. So, it's perfect. Right now, this just feels like there's just no pressure on me at all to get back in the gym [or] rush anything."
If you use any quotes from this article, please leave an H/T to MMAKnockout.com for the transcription.
More must-reads: