Did Volk really make a mistake taking the short notice rematch vs. Islam ?

[flowoftruth]

Joe Rogan and others have been peddling this narrative since the fight ended.

Outcome : The fight ended in the first round, Volk didn't go a few rounds and get tired early, and he actually made a good account of himself before he got caught . It was a big head kick and he didn't get a chance to recover; this can happen to anyone at any time - no matter how long of a camp they had.

Timing : Volk was penned to fight with Ilia before any rematch with Islam. When they fought, Ilia could have ko'ed him just the same, and in that case he would never have been given the rematch with Islam for the second belt.

$$$$ Money : A big part of Volk taking the fight was that the UFC paid him a boatload of money to come and save the card - perhaps more than he would make if he fought many times over.

There were a lot of hypotheticals that had to occur before Volk would have even gotten the opportunity again - Volk would have needed to beat Ilia, Islam would need to beat Oliveira in the rematch, Gaethje was also waiting in the wings at that time. I'm not convinced Alex made the wrong decision when looking back on it.

 

[LEWIS540]

Yes, unless he got paid 5 times his normal salary, then yes.

 

[flowoftruth]

Yes, unless he got paid 5 times his normal salary, then yes.

According to a FOX Sports (au) report it was more than 5 million $.

"Alexander Volkanovski has made himself one of the highest paid athletes in Australia – and “easily” above the $5 million required to enter the top 15 – after signing on for Sunday’s blockbuster title fight against UFC lightweight king Islam Makhachev ..... Speaking for the first time about the deal overnight here in Abu Dhabi, Australia’s No.1 fighter would not say specifically how much the deal was worth – but confirmed it was upwards of the $5 million required to enter the Aussie top 15."

Source : https://www.foxsports.com.au/ufc/uf...a/news-story/8ce263b9749b0b44b1d3f4ecb022916d

From other payout reports, his base salary as an active champ was around $1 Million, so yes; it actually looks like he got around 5 times more than his normal salary.

 

[TheBulge]

According to a FOX Sports (au) report it was more than 5 million $.

"Alexander Volkanovski has made himself one of the highest paid athletes in Australia – and “easily” above the $5 million required to enter the top 15 – after signing on for Sunday’s blockbuster title fight against UFC lightweight king Islam Makhachev ..... Speaking for the first time about the deal overnight here in Abu Dhabi, Australia’s No.1 fighter would not say specifically how much the deal was worth – but confirmed it was upwards of the $5 million required to enter the Aussie top 15."

Source : https://www.foxsports.com.au/ufc/uf...a/news-story/8ce263b9749b0b44b1d3f4ecb022916d

From other payout reports, his base salary as an active champ was around $1 Million, so yes; it actually looks like he got around 5 times more than his normal salary.

Touche.

But part of him has to have some level of regret thinking if he didn't take that fight, would he have beaten Ilia or atleast not get KO'd and then continue that legendary run he was on.

I think he would trade the money for that in hindsight but only he knows.

 

[flektarn]

KO'd that probably contributed to him getting KO'd by Topuria. And even if it didnt, thats a lot of damage in a short time span. Dont think the money was worth the potential long term damage.

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

Joe Rogan and others have been peddling this narrative since the fight ended.

Outcome : The fight ended in the first round, Volk didn't go a few rounds and get tired early, and he actually made a good account of himself before he got caught . It was a big head kick and he didn't get a chance to recover; this can happen to anyone at any time - no matter how long of a camp they had.

Timing : Volk was penned to fight with Ilia before any rematch with Islam. When they fought, Ilia could have ko'ed him just the same, and in that case he would never have been given the rematch with Islam for the second belt.

$$$$ Money : A big part of Volk taking the fight was that the UFC paid him a boatload of money to come and save the card - perhaps more than he would make if he fought many times over.

There were a lot of hypotheticals that had to occur before Volk would have even gotten the opportunity again - Volk would have needed to beat Ilia, Islam would need to beat Oliveira in the rematch, Gaethje was also waiting in the wings at that time. I'm not convinced Alex made the wrong decision when looking back on it.

View attachment 1068037

While he did get a huge paycheck, getting KO'd cold for the first time at his age is not good for his health, chin and reflex. He also probably missed training time before the Ilia fight, and all those factors contribute to him losing to Ilia

 

[OldBoy91]

Big mistake. He was out of shape, only time he ever had a mutton top during a fight. He was fresh off of shoulder surgery, had been in the gym but seriously training for a fight.

Even if the fight with Islam didn't have harmful knock on effects carrying forward (which it most certainly did) it clearly had an effect on Volk mentally. Before that fight he felt invincible. Yes he lost the first fight with Islam, but that felt like he just ran out of time. He finished the fight on top and smashing Islam with GnP after dropping him. Islam seemed gassed and was holding on for dear life. Then he went on to dominate and finish Yair who was on tear at the time.

That feeling of invincibility was gone after the headkick KO. He showed at the post fight presser hw was clearly having some mental struggles, and he did not fight like he usually does against Topuria. I don't want to say he fought scared, but he was extremely rentative, gunshy. Kept backing up with his chin in the air (something he hadn't really done in other fight.)

All in all, I don't think anybody can say the 2nd Islam loss didn't have any effects on Volk.

 

[El Fernas]

Not the best decision but not exactly a big mistake considering he did more than alright in the first fight, some claim he won it, the actual mistake i believe was taking the Topuria fight, could had Topuria KO´d him anyway? probably, but Volk was already coming off a KO loss in a relatively short time, that one is the mistake in his recent fights, imo.

According to a FOX Sports (au) report it was more than 5 million $.

"Alexander Volkanovski has made himself one of the highest paid athletes in Australia – and “easily” above the $5 million required to enter the top 15 – after signing on for Sunday’s blockbuster title fight against UFC lightweight king Islam Makhachev ..... Speaking for the first time about the deal overnight here in Abu Dhabi, Australia’s No.1 fighter would not say specifically how much the deal was worth – but confirmed it was upwards of the $5 million required to enter the Aussie top 15."

Source : https://www.foxsports.com.au/ufc/uf...a/news-story/8ce263b9749b0b44b1d3f4ecb022916d

From other payout reports, his base salary as an active champ was around $1 Million, so yes; it actually looks like he got around 5 times more than his normal salary.

Seriusly doubting he made $5 million purse (salary) and then some from PPV, as champions usually do, its the UFC we are talking here, they are cheap bastards, even to save a card thats too much for them, media loves to put numbers in fighters mouths and they say "yeah, something around that, over that", or whatever, we will NEVER see actual numbers, but some numbers were shown from the lawsuit information and it wasnt that impressive, someone tracked them down to Conor and some other high profile fighters and it wasnt that impressive.

 

[Stump]

I think it was a wise risk even though it ended about as bad as possible for him (Toe-curling KO).

You can't fairly judge the wisdom of a risk after you know the outcome. If Volk had a crystal ball and knew for sure that he was gonna get knocked TFO, then the question is, is it worth it to suffer the relatively minor blemish on your record at a higher weightclass and set yourself back in training for concussion recovery in exchange for 5 million bucks? The answer to this question might even be yes.

But the real question at the time, given that he didn't have the crystal ball was, IS IT WORTH THE RISK, with the understanding that if you win, you've made history, made a ton of money and set yourself up for even bigger money fights in your following fights?

I think it was definitely worth the risk. From the results of the first fight I think Volk had good reason to think he had a good chance of winning. Didnt turn out that way, but it could have and was worth the risk.

 

[nonoob]

Can't see how anyone doesn't clearly see it was a mistake.

Anybody fighting Islam on post-operation short notice would be a Huge error.

 

[Wreckless]

Had Volk not taken the fight there's a good chance he would've never had that opportunity to fight for the LW strap again.

He wasn't even the first guy the UFC called to face Islam.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Anyone with a brain will tell you he made two recent mistakes, short notice Islam and short recovery Topuria.
Volk's anxiety cost him the end of his career, unfortunately.

 

[Kal-El]

Yeh probably, I don't think he beats Islam with or without full camp though. Illia seems to be absolutely elite, maybe it's just changing of the guard. It's nice to have guys finishing fights again, I like Volk too, but his circle leg kick style was getting a bit old for me as a fan.

 

[flowoftruth]

Seriusly doubting he made $5 million purse (salary) and then some from PPV, as champions usually do, its the UFC we are talking here, they are cheap bastards, even to save a card thats too much for them, media loves to put numbers in fighters mouths and they say "yeah, something around that, over that", or whatever, we will NEVER see actual numbers, but some numbers were shown from the lawsuit information and it wasnt that impressive, someone tracked them down to Conor and some other high profile fighters and it wasnt that impressive.

In the article they post direct quotes from Volk and his manager, and in another story his manager boasted about him being on one of the highest contracts in the UFC after signing on to take this fight.

"When it was noted the No.15 entry was golfer Jason Day, on $4.7 million, the champ smiled and replied: “Yes, I’m now on there, too”.

Shown the same list, Belcastro replied: “Volk is on there … and easily”."

Source: https://www.foxsports.com.au/ufc/uf...a/news-story/8ce263b9749b0b44b1d3f4ecb022916d

 

[Uber_Noober]

Yes

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Joe Rogan and others have been peddling this narrative since the fight ended.

Outcome : The fight ended in the first round, Volk didn't go a few rounds and get tired early, and he actually made a good account of himself before he got caught . It was a big head kick and he didn't get a chance to recover; this can happen to anyone at any time - no matter how long of a camp they had.

Timing : Volk was penned to fight with Ilia before any rematch with Islam. When they fought, Ilia could have ko'ed him just the same, and in that case he would never have been given the rematch with Islam for the second belt.

$$$$ Money : A big part of Volk taking the fight was that the UFC paid him a boatload of money to come and save the card - perhaps more than he would make if he fought many times over.

There were a lot of hypotheticals that had to occur before Volk would have even gotten the opportunity again - Volk would have needed to beat Ilia, Islam would need to beat Oliveira in the rematch, Gaethje was also waiting in the wings at that time. I'm not convinced Alex made the wrong decision when looking back on it.

View attachment 1068037

No the mistake was taking the Ilia fight so soon after. Getting a big paycheck was a great opportunity. After such a bad KO he fights 4 months later? Should have had more then that time just resting not training for a fight and then getting KO'd.

 

[Milenkovic]

According to a FOX Sports (au) report it was more than 5 million $.

"Alexander Volkanovski has made himself one of the highest paid athletes in Australia – and “easily” above the $5 million required to enter the top 15 – after signing on for Sunday’s blockbuster title fight against UFC lightweight king Islam Makhachev ..... Speaking for the first time about the deal overnight here in Abu Dhabi, Australia’s No.1 fighter would not say specifically how much the deal was worth – but confirmed it was upwards of the $5 million required to enter the Aussie top 15."

Source : https://www.foxsports.com.au/ufc/uf...a/news-story/8ce263b9749b0b44b1d3f4ecb022916d

From other payout reports, his base salary as an active champ was around $1 Million, so yes; it actually looks like he got around 5 times more than his normal salary.

Fox Sports Aus is notoriously full of shit.

Also, that would be 5mln AUD, but his base is about 1mln USD, so more along the lines of 3.7mln USD

 

[mister piscadinha]

islam is a great fighter, fighting him without the adequate preparation is stupid

unless u just really need the cash

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

It's was definitely a big mistake. Sure he got a nice payday not life-changing pay tho and it cost him alot more.
Things he lost:
he'll never get another shot at lw.
He's sustained two awful ko's in a short time period.
He is being passed over for the fw title shot.
He's not earning a fight income for an extended period now.
Potentially he defended his fw belt with a proper camp and no damages.
Then he could have gotten a lw rematch with a camp as well and won for the elite 2 div champion status AND much bigger paydays to come.

Potentially he only lost his title in a close Dec and got an immediate rematch.

Short term greed and pride got in the way of long-term success.

 

[Pechan]

I mean he opened a deli with that money