"I seen his bone and everything" - Alexander Volkanovski believes Max Holloway fight at UFC 276 could've been stopped after massive cut

At UFC 276, Alexander Volkanovski put his featherweight championship on the line against Max Holloway and came out victorious for the third time against him. The fight went the distance and was ultimately an easy one to call in favor of Volkanovski.

However, the champion felt it could have ended before the final bell.

Speaking post the fight, 'The Great' was asked about his right-hand punch that busted open a cut on Holloway's face. He discussed whether the constantly-bleeding wound may have fazed the former featherweight champion:

"Oh, I don't think so. Cuts are not gonna faze him but I knew that was a big cut. I landed that and I just seen it open right up. And I'm like 'Oh, that's big.' I look at the ref and I'm like 'That's a big cut, that's probably ended him you know.' You could stop the fight there and see how big the cut was, I seen his bone and everything."

Volkanovski felt the fight could have been stopped by the referee owing to the severity of the cut suffered by Holloway in round two. However, he maintained that Holloway would never give up and acknowledged his incredible resilience:

"So it was pretty crazy but I knew he was gonna keep coming. I wanted to take out that legendary chin, but it stays legendary."

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Alexander Volkanovski was unfazed by trilogy fight against Max Holloway

Alexander Volkanovski made sure he did justice to his last fight against Max Holloway, potentially. The dominance was unprecedented and certainly not something Holloway is used to being at the end of.

Volkanovski was right in the zone and comfortably let his guard down during the fight at times. When asked about it, he clarified that he meant no disrespect to his opponent:

"I was just very comfortable with my range, he couldn't handle that range. I seen everything he was throwing. When you're at this level, and I felt comfortable, I felt fast, I seen everything. So why not have the hands down and talk to him? I needed it for myself as well, just to get in my own head. Wasn't being disrespectful to him."

Alexander Volkanovski's animated, motivated approach is captured best in the picture below.

But he by no means embodied a rash fighting style, calmly taking his shots and keeping the challenger under pressure throughout. 'The Great' received widespread praise for his complete performance.

Alexander Volkanovski outclassed Holloway to the extent that fans believe there is no longer a challenge for the champion in the featherweight division. Fans and media alike have urged him to take the step up to a stacked lightweight division. Nor is the champ averse to the same.

Check out his full interview below: