Joe Rogan feels sorry for Alexander Volkanovski. Last year, the featherweight champion tried to be a double champion by squaring off against Islam Makhachev, twice. Although he was defeated in both attempts, it bears mention that he gave the lightweight champion a tough fight the first time around at UFC 284 in February 2023, and many felt that he had done enough to secure the win.

In October of last year, he had an opportunity to face the champion for a second time, in a title bout on 10 days’ notice. However, he was brutally defeated via a knockout in the very first round. Months after their second bout, Rogan has shared his opinion on the featherweight champion fighting the Dagestani on short notice.

Joe Rogan questions Volkanovski’s bold move

Alexander Volkanovski is undeniably one of the best fighters on the current UFC roster. However, was it a wise move to take on someone as prolific as Islam Makhachev on 10 days’ notice? Joe Rogan does not think so. After all, at the time, Makhachev had a great winning streak, and the featherweight did not have any substantial experience in the lightweight division. Not to mention, he was greatly outsized by the Dagestani.

The 56-year-old said it was not smart on the part of Volkanovski to fight him on such short notice. without much preparation. While recalling the knockout finish, Rogan said to his guest, NFL icon Aaron Rodgers on episode #2099 of JRE, “For Volkanovski, I just hoped he did not take that fight against Islam on such short notice. To fight a guy like that on 10 days’ notice is crazy and then he gets head kicked like that.”

However, it was not just the short notice that worked against Volkanovski. ‘The Great’ had just fought at UFC 290 in July and undergone a hand surgery in the following weeks. He was recovering from the surgery and a gritty win over Yair Rodriguez when he got the call for UFC 294. Props to the Australian for stepping up, but as Rogan said, Volkanovski too believes it was a poor decision in hindsight. ‘The Great’ revealed during a recent media appearance that he was in a bad place mentally and the fight and the loss shook him out of it.

While Rogan criticized ‘Volk’s decision, he was all praise for the lightweight champion for his performance against Volkanovski in the second bout.

Rogan points out the best part of Islam Makhachev’s UFC 294 win

During the JRE Fight Companion episode for UFC 294, Rogan acknowledged that the first fight between Makhachev and Volkanovski was close, but the second one was the opposite. While the majority of the MMA world had anticipated that the lightweight champion would take the fight to the ground, he comfortably beat the featherweight on his feet. The win was so dominant it even impressed the host of JRE.

He said, “He showed a bunch of new sh*t. That front kick, and he was throwing that kick to the body, and he threw the same kick to the head.” He added, “Oh, it’s a solid win, man. The way it went down. I mean, this was not because he was tired. He [Volkanovski] got caught. He got caught with an amazing kick.”

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Rogan’s take on how Volkanovski got caught is the highlight here. The Australian has picked apart world-class strikers the likes of Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez but fell to Makhachev in the very first round. Underprepared? Sure. Outclassed? Possibly. What remains a debate is whether Makhachev would have gotten the same result if ‘Volk’ came after a full camp for the Dagestani. And that ‘what if’ will likely keep a trilogy conversation alive for the foreseeable future.

What’s more, it creates a question mark about his UFC 298 return. Has he recovered well enough from his KO loss? We’ll find out in a few days.

Read more: Joe Rogan Gives Alexander Volkanovski Brutal Reality Check of Head-Kick KO Shutting Down His Fans’ Popular Claim- “Now This Fight Maybe Never Happens Again”