Alexander Volkanovski has admitted that Conor McGregor was right to advise him to bulk up during the pair's Twitter argument last month.
After the featherweight champion, who is ranked No.1 pound-for-pound in the UFC, squared off with Islam Makhachev after the Russian won the lightweight belt at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, McGregor mocked the potential match-up and claimed that just 10 people would pay to watch the fight, which is expected to take place in Perth next February.
The pair got into a back-and-forth that ended surprisingly politely, with McGregor telling Volkanovski that he is happy for his success and recommending that he "be a bowling ball". And given that Volkanovski is moving up in weight, he has joked that the Irishman may have been right in his advice.
"He's not wrong," Volkanovski admitted during an exclusive chat with Mirror Fighting in New York, where he is supporting pal Israel Adesanya at UFC 281. "I'm committing to it with a new diet plan, new strength work and stuff, so obviously we are doing a little bit of bulking so he's right, I'll give it to him!
"It was a funny one because he sort of took a little shot and I'm always playful, I take nothing too serious and I thought he would go in on me a little bit more. But he was respectful, I'm not going to talk trash or anything."
The Australian fighter has yet to sign for a fight with Makhachev, but he is confident that the bout will be made for the UFC's return to his homeland. And he plans to make history by moving between weights and spending some time at lightweight, or even heavier, at which point he could meet McGregor in the Octagon.
After over a year out of action, the former two-weight world champion has packed on the pounds, with his plan being a return at welterweight after tipping the 190lb mark as of late. But Volkanovski is still keen on that fight, and would be willing to welcome the Irishman back to action.
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"I'm not just planning on fighting for this lightweight title and having the belt," he explained. "I want to take out Islam and be the double champion. But there's a story there as well and I've talked about Conor being the only other featherweight champion I haven't beat.
"I've beat the other champions in Jose Aldo and Max Holloway [on three occasions], so Conor is the only other champ. Even though it would be in another division, I'd still be interested in that being something I accomplish. A lot of people are like 'oh he's too big'; I've been under-sized my whole life, it's not like I just train with bantamweights and featherweights, half my training partners are much bigger. I'm used to the big boys and I need them to work with me and get me the proper workouts so that says enough."
Volkanovski is confident that he would stop McGregor in the middle rounds, assuming it were a five-round bout, adding: "You've got to remember that even though he's had some losses, he's still always dangerous and you've always got to be pretty calculated early, especially with him when he's at his most dangerous.
"Then you can start to have your way so that would be the plan; early on be a bit more cautious. He's going to be looking for that chin, so I can't let him have it, I'll tire him out and beat him up and then get the finish in the middle rounds, I would say."
