Alexander Volkanovski defended his title for the fifth time against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290. He emerged victorious after earning a 3rd-round TKO win. Subsequently, ‘The Great’ celebrated his win in style in an after-party involving NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal and fellow UFC champion Israel Adesanya.

Volkanovski has proved himself arguably as one of the greatest fighters the UFC has ever seen. He remained dominant in the featherweight division after beating Rodriguez, his toughest opponent. The Australian finished off the Mexican and followed it up with a celebration worthy of a championship victory. ‘The Great’ recently spoke about it in an interview with Ariel Helwani.

Alexander Volkanovski on his after party with Shaquille O’Neal and Israel Adesanya

The undisputed UFC featherweight champion had a lot of support going into his main-event title fight last weekend. With NBA champion Jamal Murray and his city kickboxing teammate Israel Adesanya cheering him on, he made sure to party hard with them after the victorious outing. In addition to that, Shaquille O’Neal, who put on his DJ Diesel avatar, also joined in the celebration at the Encore Beach Club.

Volkanovski said, “We obviously at the after party had Jamal Murray with us and Shaquille O’Neal’s DJing there. So we kept caught up with a heap of guys – Izzy [Adesanya] came back there.” Furthermore, he wanted to enjoy the biggest win in his UFC career and was amazed at how big his after-party was. Volkanovski further added, “I got to soak up that and be like, ‘How good is this?'” However, The Australian MMA icon wasn’t like this earlier in his career.

‘The Great’ tries to get fired up for every fight

Alexander Volkanovski wasn’t really the party animal earlier in his career. However, he mentioned that other than the celebration he had following his UFC 290 win; he refrains from participating in other escapades. He said, “Other than that, I am usually blocking everything else because I have a job to do when I got this sort of tunnel vision.”

In addition to that, Volkanovski mentioned that he has been able to mix the party animal in him well with the calm and composed attitude he has. He said, “I think I can juggle being able to do that [celebrate] and still be that composed guy.” Moreover, even now, whenever he has a fight, the featherweight champion tends to pump up his adrenaline to put on a show for the crowd in attendance. Volkanovski further added, “Even now when I go fights, I try and get a little more fired up – lot more emotional and a little more adrenaline.”

READ MORE: “He’s Too Good Holy”- Alexander Volkanovski’s Dominant Win Against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 Has Fans in Awe of the UFC Champ

While he’s done with UFC 290, there are speculations regarding his next fight. He has defeated almost everyone in the division. However, he still has a challenge in the form of Ilia Topuria, who’s on an undefeated run in the UFC. On the other hand, Volkanovski might still consider going back to avenge his loss against Islam Makhachev, which many fans would love to see. We will have to wait and see how things pan out for the Australian ace.

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