Alexander Volkanovski reacts to his defeat to Islam Makhachev at UFC 294. Video: UFC
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00:00 I probably could have made better decisions.
00:07 He's not someone you should be taking short notice with.
00:12 I needed it.
00:14 A lot of people say it's for the money.
00:18 It was much more than that.
00:21 It is hard.
00:22 It's hard for athletes.
00:30 I never thought I'd struggle with it.
00:32 But for some reason, when I wasn't fighting or in camp,
00:39 I just threw my head in.
00:41 I needed a fight.
00:43 And then this opportunity came up.
00:46 I'll be honest, I wasn't training as much as I should have.
00:49 I had to take it.
00:53 I'm telling myself it's meant to be.
00:57 I was struggling a little bit not fighting.
01:00 I don't know how.
01:01 Everything's fine.
01:02 I've got a beautiful family.
01:04 But you just need to keep busy.
01:07 That's why I ask the UFC to keep me busy.
01:12 I need to be in camp.
01:16 Otherwise I'm going to do my head in.
01:21 I want to be sensitive to what you're saying.
01:23 You don't have to reveal anything.
01:25 You said Tyson Fury said if you're not fighting,
01:29 you get down.
01:31 Or are you saying you get bored?
01:33 What do you mean by you need to be busy?
01:37 I don't know.
01:39 It's weird.
01:40 I've never believed in that stuff.
01:43 I never got it.
01:45 It was something that -- I don't know.
01:48 Maybe the more and more I learn about my sport,
01:51 the more and more I understand.
01:53 I don't know.
01:54 It was different.
01:55 It was a decision I chose.
01:57 I talked about us having a smile on my face,
02:00 me and my wife.
02:02 Obviously my wife could see that it does get hard.
02:05 I don't know why.
02:07 You know what I mean?
02:09 I think there was just so much going on with obviously the surgery
02:12 and then the baby.
02:15 Yeah, and then like I just needed to get in camp.
02:19 And then this fight come up, I'm like,
02:21 "It's meant to be, let's do it."
02:23 So I thought that was what it was.
02:26 But maybe it was just a silly decision under the circumstances.
02:30 Again, they're decisions you don't want to make against someone like Islam.
02:33 And I'm not taking nothing away from him.
02:36 Yeah.
02:38 I don't think you're the only athlete who struggled with that, by the way.
02:41 Yeah, I know that.
02:42 I know it's a very common thing.
02:44 It was something that, again, I never understood.
02:47 It was--yeah, I've never dealt with anything like that, to be honest.
02:52 Yeah.
02:57 You know, it was obviously--I talk about being professional
03:01 and always turning up.
03:03 And if there ever was a time that I wasn't, it was literally now.
03:08 And then I made a decision, maybe this happened to give me a kick up the ass
03:13 for being silly.
03:15 Maybe it won't happen again now.
03:16 Maybe that's what it was.
03:17 Maybe this will kick me back into gear, get back in there,
03:20 and go back to featherweight division and kick ass there.
03:23 Yeah.