UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will be required to undergo surgery on his hand after breaking it in his victory at UFC 245.
The Australian went the distance to defeat Max Holloway on Saturday 14 December, taking the featherweight title for his own.
Sidelined
Volkanovski will unfortunately begin his reign as champion with a stint on the sidelines, as it’s now come to light that he broke his left hand in the fight and will require surgery to fix it.
In a video posted by Australian MMA show Submission Radio, Volkanovski said: “I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I’ve broke my hand.”
“Low on the thumb and you can see a bit of bruising there.”
“Yeah I broke it so,”
“I’ve got x-rays done and I need to go into surgery.”
“I don’t think the operation is too crazy but it’s a couple of breaks in there so I’m gonna have to get that sorted.”
.@alexvolkanovski reveals he broke his hand and is going into surgery tomorrow!
Wishing the champ a speedy recovery, big 2020 coming up! 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/8QA1XxmmYA
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) December 19, 2019
First Ever
Volkanovski is the first Australian fighter in UFC history to win gold, and extended his unbeaten record in the UFC to 8-0 with the decision victory over Holloway.
The victory was also his eighteenth straight career win and comes off the back of a victory over Jose Aldo back in May.
And the 31-year-old believes he has the focus and the talent to retain his new belt for a long time.
Speaking after his UFC 245 victory (via The Guardian), he said: “I’m so composed. I’ve got the good fight IQ and I got the job done and I’m telling you, I’m going to stay champion for a long time.”
“Holloway is one of the GOATs. I’ve taken out two of the GOATs back-to-back, that puts me right up there,”
“They were great champions, but now I’m going to be a great champion.”
The two men found time and energy to talk to each other during the fight.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hurting my shins as well,”
“There was one that hurt me and he noticed and said, ‘ha that hurt you’ and I was like, ‘yeah yeah I’m good’, but he’s a great champion. I promise to be a great champion.”
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War Wounds
The newly-crowned featherweight champion will now wait for his war wounds to fully heal before he gets back into the Octagon.
But the Aussie fighter will be excited to see what 2020 brings after what has been a hugely successful year.
(Featured image source: Instagram/ Alexander Volkanovski)