"My inbox on Instagram went on fire" - Michael Bisping reveals "passionate" Alexander Volkanovski fans were sending him abusive DMs following UFC 251

Michael Bisping has revealed that Alexander Volkanovski's fans sent him abusive messages in reaction to his comments on the rematch between the Australian and Max Holloway at UFC 251.

The UFC featherweight champion beat Holloway via split decision in a very close fight that many thought could have gone either way. During a live Q&A session on his YouTube channel, 'The Count' stated that Australian fans weren't too happy with his opinion that Holloway deserved the win:

"There's no way I would diminish this win by being disrespectful. It was a super super close fight. Very competitive, entertaining, very technical fight. But it was one of those fights and I thought I had Holloway 3-2 [rounds]. Anyway, it turns out the Australians and Volkanovski fans are very very passionate because my inbox on Instagram went on fire. A lot of people were sending me abuse."

Watch the full Q&A below:

The featherweights are set to fight each other at UFC 272 in a potentially thrilling trilogy bout. Volkanovski bested Holloway in their first two encounters via unanimous and split decision, respectively.

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Alexander Volkanovski is one of the few fighters in UFC history to fight a trilogy bout after winning the first two fights

Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski will battle for the third time on March 5, even though the score is 2-0 in favor of the Australian. However, both fighters had spectacular showings last year, which has made a third fight desirable.

Holloway decisively won two fights in 2021, including a tremendous five-round slugfest against Yair Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski successfully defended his title in a thriller against Brian Ortega, where he was close to being submitted twice.

There have been two other instances where fighters have been given a third chance after losing the first two encounters – BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar and Ken Shamrock vs.Tito Ortiz.

Edgar beat Penn all three times in their fights, with the first two victories coming via decision and the last via knockout. Meanwhile, Ortiz stopped Shamrock in all three of their matchups.