"Islam turned him into an actor" - Alexander Volkanovski's hilarious skit promoting upcoming UFC 298 clash with Ilia Topuria leaves fans in splits

MMA fans have been in fits of laughter after Alexander Volkanovski opted to poke fun at the narrative that he is too old to continue being the featherweight champion.

'The Great' is set to return to the 145-pound division and is hoping to defend his title for a sixth time when he faces Ilia Topuria on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, the United States.

Volkanovski is heading into the fight coming off a first round head kick KO loss to Islam Makhachev last October. He suffered two losses to the Russian in 2023 but did defend his featherweight belt against Yair Rodriguez.

Due to the manner of his latest defeat to Makhachev and that he's 35-years-old, there has been a narrative amongst some fans that Volkanovski's bout against Topuria could start a downward spiral in his career.

The Australian disagrees, however, and poked fun at anybody who believes that to be the case by appearing in a video sponsored by Sportsbet.com.

In the video, he hilariously dresses as an 'old man' and does stereotypical activities associated with older people.

Watch the video here:

Fans were left in stitches due to Volkanovski's acting performance and his outfits, with many believing this is one of the best things he could have done to drown out the 'old' narrative. One fan wrote:

"Islam turned him into an actor im actually crying 😭😭 (cool video tho)"

Another fan added:

"Holy shit this is one of the best things I have ever seen."

Another fan wrote:

"Eh! Volk can become an actor! When he retires haha"

X user @n1x0n16 added:

"Skit so good I'll consider it as a title defense"

Check out more reactions to Alexander Volkanovski's video here:

More fan reactions

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Alexander Volkanovski believes a victory over Ilia Topuria will be the "perfect" story for his career

Alongside his video poking fun at the narrative heading into his fight against Ilia Topuria, Alexander Volkanovski has also hit back at fans that are questioning his ability.

Appearing on Israel Adesanya's YouTube channel this week, Volkanovski was asked for his thoughts on facing Topuria, who is 6-0 in his UFC career and has yet to taste defeat as a professional (14-0).

According to Volkanovski, all of the discussions about his age and his KO loss to Makhachev have only fueled his desire to defeat Topuria and prove everybody wrong. He said:

"It's perfect for my storyline right now. 'Cause right now, everyone's looking at me from the lost loss, coming off that, and people are looking into my age being 35 and all this."

Catch Alexander Volkanovski's comments here (16:35):