Coach ‘Gutted’ Alex Volkanovski Snubbed For UFC Title Shot
Alexander Volkanovski was snubbed of the next UFC featherweight title shot.
Despite coming off a victory over Jose Aldo in Brazil, the UFC gifted Frankie Edgar the next shot at the 145-pound title. Edgar meets Max Holloway at UFC 240 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Speaking to Submission Radio, Volkanovski’s coach, Eugene Bareman, said he’s “gutted” his fighter was snubbed (via MMA Fighting):
“Gutted, mate. Absolutely livid. Livid. Livid,” Bareman said. “Like, we talked about this for such a long time. We talked about it, our team talked about. Our goal was to set this scenario up. And for all our knowledge, this is what the UFC were looking for, this is what they wanted.
“They needed Volko to win that fight, they needed Israel [Adesanya] to get into position, and then we’ve got an Australasian super card set up all because of the work that we’ve put in and the position that we’ve put ourselves into.
“And that was all to get to this goal, to get to that super card. And we were obviously [thinking that] but the UFC was on a different page. We didn’t think so, but yeah, absolutely gutted. Is it not obvious?”
Volkanovski has more than earned his title opportunity. He hasn’t lost a fight since 2013 and has won all seven of his fights under the UFC banner. His latter two fights resulted in victories over some of the division’s greatest of all-time in Aldo and Chad Mendes.
