Michael Bisping downplays Alexander Volkanovski age concerns heading into UFC 298: “He’s a special fighter”

UFC commentator Michael Bisping doesn’t buy into talk of Alexander Volkanovski being old.

‘The Great’ is currently slated to return to the octagon this Saturday night at UFC 298. There, Alexander Volkanovski will return to featherweight for the first time since last summer, to face the rising Ilia Topuria. ‘El Matador’ last demolished Josh Emmett in June, handing him a lopsided unanimous decision loss.

For the Australian, Saturday night’s bout comes at a bit of a crossroads. Alexander Volkanovski enters the bout having lost two of his last three, although, those defeats were bouts up at lightweight. Furthermore, many, have been taking aim at his age. Male fighters aged 35 or older at 170 pounds or below are 1-21 in title fights against younger competitors.

With that in mind, the 35-year-old has poked fun at the stat this week. Yesterday, Alexander Volkanovski wore an old man outfit, and jokingly limped around at the pre-fight press conference. The UFC featherweight champion doesn’t seem to really buy into the aforementioned stat, and it seems that Michael Bisping agrees with him.

‘The Count’ recently discussed Alexander Volkanovski’s UFC 298 return in a recent interview with ESPN MMA. There, Michael Bisping stated that he wasn’t a huge believer in the stat applying to ‘The Great’. While it’s true that fighters struggle at his age at featherweight, the Brit believes that Volkanovski is built different.

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Michigan Bisping stares down his opponent.

Michael Bisping downplays Alexander Volkanovski’s age heading into UFC 298

“It’s a stat, it’s certainly true.” Michael Bisping stated in a recent interview with ESPN MMA, discussing Alexander Volkanovski. “He did point out though a lot of the people who make up that stat, they’re the challengers and not the champions. But you can’t look at numbers and stats like that and make that reflect onto a person.”

He continued, “Alexander Volkanovski is a special fighter. We’ve seen what he’s done time, and time again. The people that he’s beating, the fashion that he’s beating them in. So, I don’t think it applies. The reality is that at 35, at such a light weight class, you know you’re starting to get towards the end of your career. But he feels fantastic, and we know he’s coming off the back of that loss to Islam Makhachev, but [on] short notice. Rolled the dice, stepped up a weight class, that was always a bad idea.”

“But, to be great you have to roll the dice and do things like that.” Michae Bisping concluded. “I don’t there’s any reflection on him or his ability when you look at that fight.”

What do you make of these comments about UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski? Do you agree with Michael Bisping?