Joe Lopez says Alexander Volkanovski was damaged entering UFC 325.
Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) defeated Diego Lopez (27-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC) for the second consecutive time in Saturday’s main event at Kudos Bank Arena in Sydney to defend his featherweight title.
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Lopez, his head coach, said the shoulder injury nearly knocked him out of the game.
“To be fair to Alex, four weeks ago, we didn’t think he was going to fight,” Lopez said on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. “He literally pulled his shoulder out. He’s had a broken shoulder for the past four weeks.”
After a decisive win at UFC 314, Lopez had a similar game plan against Volkanovski in the rematch, but said there was one major difference.
“In Diego’s first training camp, Volker kind of second-guessed himself,” Lopez said. “Through this training camp, Volker has found himself again. He is very confident and does not need to say anything. He is just back to the original Volker. Maybe we can find four more people from him.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Coach: Injury almost knocks Alexander Volkanovski out of UFC 325