Volkanovski Refused Allowed Medication Ahead of UFC 333 Title Defense

Alexander Volkanovski retained his featherweight championship at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi by stopping the previously undefeated Movsar Evloev in the second round, but the champion revealed he overcame illness without medical assistance to secure the victory.

Speaking during a media scrum captured by Brendan Bradford, Volkanovski (29-4) explained that he chose to decline medication for an illness leading into the title bout, despite being informed by UFC officials that taking it was fully allowed. The Australian explained that he feared people might perceive the treatment as an unfair advantage.

"I turned it down, even though the UFC and everyone else were saying, 'No, you’re allowed to do this,'" Volkanovski said. "I thought people might look at it as an advantage even though it would only be so I wouldn’t feel as..."

Rather than treating the illness, "The Great" viewed fighting through the adversity as an extra challenge to embrace, even though his coaching staff disagreed with the choice. "Not many people would choose to do that, I guess," Volkanovski added. "But I looked at it more like, 'Nah, I like the idea of this being more of a challenge now.' Let me put it this way: my team weren’t happy with me. They weren’t happy at all, but I guess they weren’t surprised either."