UFC 284: Tiny Alex Volkanovski scarfing down 4,000 calories per day for Islam Makhachev fight — ‘It’s the worst’

I guess UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski learned nothing from former UFC welterweight titleholder Georges St-Pierre, who scarfed down everything in sight to help his transition to middleweight back in 2017, a strategy that led to lingering stomach issues.

Then again, the “skills, bro” strategy failed to hold up in battle.

“It’s the worst, eating,” Volkanovski said in his latest fight blog. “I’m bulking at the moment. It’s the f***ing worst. I’m eating over 4000 calories. It’s ridiculous, it’s the worst.”

Paddy Pimblett is not impressed.

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Volkanovski, 34, is moving up to 155 pounds to challenge newly-crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the UFC 284 pay-per-view (PPV) headliner later this month in Perth, Western Australia, a fight that has “The Great” as the odds-on betting underdog.

“I think he’s going to be mentally strong as well, I reckon Khabib (Nurmagomedov) and the boys, they put themselves through work,” Volkanovski said in a separate interview. “But I feel like them being so uncomfortable on the feet and getting desperate for takedowns and then not being as successful as they originally planned, I feel like that’s where he’s going to start losing his head — him and his corner.”

Makhachev will lose more than his head if Volkanovski prevails.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 284 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

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