NEW YORK - Alexander Volkanovski was smiling and laughing on stage Friday. Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington were sparring verbally, the crowd was chanting profanity and Covington and the whole thing devolved into quite the circus.
Volkanovski, meanwhile, was content staying mostly quiet. He believes his time to make a big splash will come when he fights champion Max Holloway for the featherweight title in the co-main event of UFC 245 on Dec. 14 in Las Vegas.
"I'll let these two guys go at it," Volkanovski said of Usman and Covington, who will compete in the main event for Usman's welterweight title. "They'll make the world watch and then I'll steal the show. I can't wait to take the belt back home."
Volkanovski (20-1) said he flew in from Thailand for the press conference and was a bit tired and jet-lagged. The Australia native will have to make another long flight in less than six weeks to fight Holloway at T-Mobile Arena. "The Great" doesn't seem to be too fazed - in fact, he's very confident things will go his way.
"Nothing but respect," Volkanovski said of Holloway. "He's a great champion, but I'm gonna do my thing Dec. 14. I think the Blessed Era ends. It's my time."
Holloway, who goes by the nickname "Blessed," will be the favorite going into the bout. The Hawaii native has won 13 straight and has held the featherweight belt since 2017. Holloway, 27, has talked about moving to lightweight in the past and did so in a losing effort earlier this year against Dustin Poirier. Volkanovski, 31, is hoping to accelerate Holloway's trip up to 155 pounds permanently.
"He's a big boy," Volkanovski said. "I'm a nice guy, right? I can see he cuts a lot of weight. I'll make that decision easier for him. I'll take that belt and he can move up."
Holloway (21-4), as is typical, could not be baited into any trash talk.
"He's the next cupcake on the list and I can't wait to taste the flavor," the champion said.
Volkanovski's teammate Israel Adesanya is now the UFC middleweight champion. Adesanya hails from New Zealand. Volkanovski said he'd love nothing more than to bring the UFC featherweight gold to Australia with him next month.
"It would mean a lot," Volkanovski said. "It would mean everything to me. I'm spending time away from my family. That's enough motivation."