Dana White addresses UFC 333 presser moment with Alexander Volkov
Dana White clarifies whether he was aware that it was Alexander Volkov who had asked him a question at the UFC 333 pre-fight press conference.
Dana White was one-half of one of the most memorable moments of the UFC 333 pre-fight press conference. The other half was UFC heavyweight Alexander Volkov, who jokingly appeared as a media member, though White's apparent confusion led many to wonder whether he even knew it was Volkov. It's confusion that White has now addressed.
Dana White was well aware that it was Alexander Volkov
At the UFC 333 pre-fight press conference, UFC heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov, who is set to take on Rizvan Kuniev, made a humorous appearance as a media member. When it was his turn on the microphone, he jokingly asked UFC president Dana White what steps he'd have to take in order to become a UFC champion. White played along by pretending that he had never met Volkov and asked him about his age, with reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who was fooled by the bit, leaning in to remind White of Volkov's identity.
Unfortunately, the bit was misunderstood by some parts of the MMA community who believed that White didn't recognize or even know who Volkov was, despite the fact that they have shared a cageside moment back at UFC 310, when the towering Russian lost a highly controversial split-decision to now undisputed UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.
So, in a recent interview with Main Event TV, the UFC president decided to set the record straight by revealing that, yes, he knew it was Volkov all along.
"I absolutely knew. It was freaking Volkanovski out so bad, he asked me twice. He's like, 'You know that's Volkov, right?' I said, 'Yeah.' I thought he was doing some type of a shtick and I was waiting for the punchline or I didn't know, you know, there was nothing. It was very odd. Even my staff thought I didn't know who it was."
Volkov is on a two-fight win streak and determined to rise to heavyweight title contention. However, to do so, he will have to get past a confident Kuniev, who is also coming off two back-to-back wins. Though as the more experienced fighter, with a proven track record against the division's best, Volkov will look to win with a statement come UFC 333.
