Media Volk Emotional on ‘Need to keep busy’ driving him to take fights

[BFG]

This isn't the first time we've heard this from Volk but it seems really unhealthy long term. At some point there won't be any more fights and we've seen, both in MMA and boxing, what happens to folks who need that to keep themselves out of dark places. Sadly it doesn't seem to end well a lot of the time. I hope Volk gets some help, he seems like a class dude and it would be a shame to see him stick around too long or wind up finding another, less healthy, dragon to chase.

 

[sabretitan]

Ts he's concussed. He's super emotional. Because you watched a Tyson fury documentary doesnt mean everyone is Tyson fury that has major bi polar

 

[Russ82]

without fighting, volk is only a short and bald man. It is impossible to not be clinically depressed if you are just a short and bald man.

 

[OleBuffalo]

Some of y’all are so fucking soft.

I’m all for mental health awareness but what other indication do you even have for this? Even if that were true a man has to work and work is often therapy. Especially when talking about man like Volk. He’s out here having a high profile fighting career and he seems to absolutely enjoy that shit. Sure he got head kicked but he just wants to keep going and is indicating he feels fine after getting knocked out. Medical examination will decide if he’s fit to fight.

he’s not depressed, he’s a fucking competitor.

Did you see the post fight presser? Don’t think ts said anything to earn that response tbf. As far as I can tell what ts is working off of is Volk himself saying for the last however many months or weeks, he’s felt an angst that he indicted he’d never felt before and said it was rough is all.

To your point, seems the biggest factor is just feeling w/o purpose when not fighting especially since he knows his clock is ticking, nothing too crazy. Being a competitor and being legit depressed aren’t mutually exclusive. Maybe he was just feeling down instead of full on depressed, only he knows. Volk is Volk, he’ll be good

 

[Paul E Gensinger]

Impossible to be happy with no hair and height. MMA is saving him

When he checks his bank account after that direct deposit goes through he can party.
When he gets home his wife is going to tell him he doesn't need to do this anymore.
At least he didn't bring his kids to the fight.

 

[Cartiac]

Volk's post fight conference was definitely hard to watch. He was recently concussed but I don't think that accounts for the pretty clear troubled state of mind he expresses. I also don't think it requires a doctor to see for whatever reason this guy is and has been in a very bad place for a long time and is pretty much begging the UFC for help because he recognizes it is out of his control and needs help.

I don't believe UFC has any type of official program or policy for this type of situation but I really hope Dana reaches out and offers Volk whatever help he needs completely off the record.

 

[xhaydenx]

for some athletes, being an athlete is their identity. without it, they don't even know who they are

for other athletes, it is just something they do to give them better circumstances in their actual life. this is true not just professionally, but even in high school as being an athlete improves social status which leads to more success with friends and girls

Yep, and for Volk and plenty of us, it's the former situation. You can replace "being an athlete" with just about anything, too, such as writing, painting, music, etc.

Volk has been doing martial arts for long enough that even when he wants to actually retire, it's likely still gonna hurt him.

I'm the same. Been trying to give up some of the same things that I do that define me as I think I'd be better off, but the idea alone is terrifying. You don't hear about it much, but lots of people literally go off the rails if they do manage to give up this thing they do.

 

[Cartiac]

without fighting, volk is only a short and bald man. It is impossible to not be clinically depressed if you are just a short and bald man.

That is brutal. I thankfully being neither short nor bald cannot confirm your statement, but I have observed quite a bit of evidence supporting your assertion. In fact if Volk was not already clinically depressed for being short and bald he certainly will be if he listens to Islam's post fight conference interview where he talks about how his coaches always told him he had great head kicks but didn't believe them because he was never able to land them on normal sized opponents but Volk being so short made it easy for him to kick in the head.

 

[Cooliox]

i can say that i respect Volkanovski talents and accomplishments as a fighter, while still saying it is a bad look and in poor taste to be crying like a women after a set back

"Bad Look" for the #1 P4P fighter on the planet?

He's supposed to be a Emotionless Fighter like some kind of psychopath who has flipped off the switch for feelings?

Dude just got kicked in the head. He lost a fight against someone that he should have won the first time around. He's also probably concussed, on top of being cut.

If he's still crying next week about this, THEN there is a problem. He's crying during the process.

Volk is feeling actually 'defeat' for the first time in 10 Years. YES, first loss since 2013.

Won't count the previous Islam loss. Was very controversial.

People FEEL.
Not Just women, Men too. Men are just expected to hide all this stuff. Bury it deep inside.
This is why the suicide rate for Men is about 4 times higher than for women, in Europe and the Americas

 

[Mike]

"Bad Look" for the #1 P4P fighter on the planet?

He's supposed to be a Emotionless Fighter like some kind of psychopath who has flipped off the switch for feelings?

Dude just got kicked in the head. He lost a fight against someone that he should have won the first time around. He's also probably concussed, on top of being cut.

If he's still crying next week about this, THEN there is a problem. He's crying during the process.

Volk is feeling actually 'defeat' for the first time in 10 Years. YES, first loss since 2013.

Won't count the previous Islam loss. Was very controversial.

People FEEL.
Not Just women, Men too. Men are just expected to hide all this stuff. Bury it deep inside.
This is why the suicide rate for Men is about 4 times higher than for women, in Europe and the Americas

Yep men aren't supposed to express emotions basically ever. And they wonder why the male suicide rate is so high.

 

[MigitAs]

The obvious answer is Volk has shark DNA, he is part shark. It’s
well-known if sharks don’t keep moving they die. Volk was worried inactivity was gonna end him one way or another.

 

[MMonk]

Doesn't sound like a good idea to have another title fight in 2.5 months in January
after being KOd.

Take some time off to heal your head and ego, Volk!

 

[French Canadian]

This is super important topic worthy of discussion from a mental health POV - it sounds like he is alluding to a form of depression when not in camp or focused on a fight.

I recognise this feeling all to well and hope Volk is able to find help for it bc the fact is there won’t always be a fight there to focus on and it’s real life or death stuff sometimes.

No comment on the result or him taking the fight here - just props for being honest and good wishes to the guy.

https://x.com/espnmma/status/1715843482940514764?s=46&t=KznWFkzz60QOhzdP54_Z0g

Yeah his way of framing it was super weird. He said he needs to keep busy or else (he did not specify). That struck me as odd. No even acknowledging he might need some time off. Only saying how for his mind he needed to keep going. That seems like a very dark place. Hope it is not as bad as it seems.

 

[JustBreed]

Depression manifests itself in different ways with different people. Wouldn't be crazy for the lack of training for an extended period to have thrown him out of whack. There's well established science around what training or not training does to your mental state. I've known people with similar personality traits that have gone the same way whenever

humans are - in varying degrees - ill adapted to the demands of the modern world. we all evolved to be hunter/gatherers and/or farmers. there are even studies that show that autism may be an evolved trait that could have been an advantage in more archaic human populations from thousands of years ago...and yet we can all agree that autism is anything but an advantage in modern societies

nevertheless, addictions make everything much, much worse. and the modern world promotes addictions because a population of addicts makes some people filthy rich

Doing nothing is not good for you, more so for some than others. Any time Ive taken extended periods off work (like, more than 4 weeks), it's started to catch up with me. I took 4 months off a hectic few years career wise. First month was great, after that it did some very weird shit to my psyche and outlook on life

 

[Trabaho]

Some of y’all are so fucking soft.

I’m all for mental health awareness but what other indication do you even have for this? Even if that were true a man has to work and work is often therapy. Especially when talking about man like Volk. He’s out here having a high profile fighting career and he seems to absolutely enjoy that shit. Sure he got head kicked but he just wants to keep going and is indicating he feels fine after getting knocked out. Medical examination will decide if he’s fit to fight.

he’s not depressed, he’s a fucking competitor.

First go watch the interview that we are discussing here. You talk out of thin air

 

[wannabetoughguy]

This is super important topic worthy of discussion from a mental health POV - it sounds like he is alluding to a form of depression when not in camp or focused on a fight.

I recognise this feeling all to well and hope Volk is able to find help for it bc the fact is there won’t always be a fight there to focus on and it’s real life or death stuff sometimes.

No comment on the result or him taking the fight here - just props for being honest and good wishes to the guy.

https://x.com/espnmma/status/1715843482940514764?s=46&t=KznWFkzz60QOhzdP54_Z0g

He had surgery this year. I feel sorry for him these guys, even champions, are literally pressured into lose/lose situations. This was not, but not sure if it will be worth the bag when Suga is painting his face and taking his gold next year.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

he probably should just chill a little bit and take some time. probably wouldnt do the topuria fight right after this one. that could potentially be the start of a real downfall. does anyone know why eugene the coach wasn't in his corner? perhaps maybe he disagreed with taking this fight? hope volk gets the rest, cooks some more wagyu burgers, and comes back stronger, with a full fight camp

 

[OldFashion]

females, for what they are worth, are a good measuring stick for male traits. positive male traits make them wet; negative, weak traits make them drier than the desert.

men are supposed to be stoic and in control of their thoughts and emotions

You sound like a virgin incel who watched too much Andrew Tate. Touch grass loser

 

[Kohelet]

time to retire in my opinion

 

[Young Calf Kick]

Well if thats your experience I'm pretty surprised you jumped in with the 'Mfs are so soft' line, knowing how that kinda talk can impact on people who might be thinking they need to open up or their gonna go to a real bad place.

It wouldn't have been hard to state your view that you think his reaction is down to the loss/KO rather than any internal struggle. That's fine - we can't know for sure because we aint inside Volk's head.

I just personally feel its a powerful moment of a guy being pretty raw about struggling to feel ok even though he knows his life is objectively good.

It’s the ones you never suspect mate



Volks always trying the hardest to make everyone laugh, make everyone feel comfortable. He’s obviously a very mentally strong guy, but sometimes there are no signs

It is depression.

I've had the same sort of depression as he has plenty of times. Mine was over a lack of something creative on the go, while Volk's is competitive fighting, but it works all the same. Plenty of people get thrown out by this sort of thing.

It's weird because once I'm back filling that void with what I thought I needed, I always looked back at those times and think, "what the fuck was I so upset about? The break wasn't so bad."

It's strange shit.

Did you see the post fight presser? Don’t think ts said anything to earn that response tbf. As far as I can tell what ts is working off of is Volk himself saying for the last however many months or weeks, he’s felt an angst that he indicted he’d never felt before and said it was rough is all.

To your point, seems the biggest factor is just feeling w/o purpose when not fighting especially since he knows his clock is ticking, nothing too crazy. Being a competitor and being legit depressed aren’t mutually exclusive. Maybe he was just feeling down instead of full on depressed, only he knows. Volk is Volk, he’ll be good

First go watch the interview that we are discussing here. You talk out of thin air

I hadn’t seen him at the press conference at the time of posting my statement and I admit my opinion has changed a bit after watching that. I admit I went a little too hard with the some of y’all are so soft line, my apologies.

looking at the situation now I do believe there’s a little smoke there and it’s good that Volk expressed himself the way he did. I’m still not certain if he’s being emotional mainly because he lost or because he really does feel a void when he’s not competing - time will have to tell. It seems to me like like Volk has a solid team around him with people that care about him and will check up on him following his statements.

His identity is that of such a driven athlete and competitor that I can imagine him being on the sidelines can make him feel depressed but again, feeling depressed and having a depression are different things.

When I had a legitimate depression I did not feel any emotions at all and every time I talk to people that have a depression, they say exactly the same thing. You’re not particularly sad, nor are you happy/upbeat; you just don’t feel anything at all. At my lowest point I slept for 16 hours a day and had no energy to do anything. It seems inconceivable to me that Volkanovski would experience similar states of being, but then again, every situation is different, so perhaps I’m just being ignorant.

I do believe the “depression” label is overdiagnosed though. Often, the person’s life just sucks and he/she has to make some thorough changes for the “depression/feeling depressed” to go away.