Aleksandar Volkanovski did what he does best again – win a championship fight. But it turned out that his very arrival in the octagon last weekend was seriously questionable.
Speaking to Daniel Cormier after Volkanovski's second featherweight victory over Diego Lopez, his trainer Joe Lopez revealed that the Australian suffered a serious injury just a month before the fight and that withdrawal was a real possibility.
"Four weeks ago, we didn't think Alex was going to fight," Lopez said. "He dislocated his shoulder. It really happened. He's been training and preparing with an injured shoulder for the last four weeks."
Despite the injury, he did not show himself in the fight. In the rematch with Lopez, Volkanovski had a strong performance over five rounds. Although Diego Lopez had a few dangerous moments, the champion kept his composure, controlled the pace and won most of the exchanges to come away with a convincing points victory and a successful title defense.
