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He’s far from the call out type, so Alex Volkanovski’s public challenge to three-time featherweight contender Chad Mendes was somewhat out of the ordinary. It came in the moments after his unanimous decision win over veteran brawler Darren Elkins at UFC Fight Night in Boise, Idaho in July. Mendes made his return from a two-year doping ban with a first-round TKO win over Myles Jury on the same card and was quick demand a “top-five guy” for his next bout. That wasn’t going to fly with Volkanovski, who threw down the gauntlet to the two-time All-American wrestler, making a not so subtle reference to his rival’s PED use. Volkanovski admits it was a “calculated call out,” but it wasn’t pure grandstanding. His win over Elkins saw him climb to #10 in the UFC featherweight rankings. Mendes has since been installed at #5 despite being a convicted doper. For someone who’s more than paid his dues the fair way, Volkanovski was riled. “I knew if he won that fight they were going to push him through the ranks pretty high,” Volkanovski said. “He’s coming off a two-year drug suspension. There’s a lot of us that have been there and he got caught cheating. It’s plain and simple. “I don’t take it personally, I’ll punch his head in either way, but he got caught cheating, came back fought a 15th ranked guy, and now he’s ranked five. “I do hate how the system works. I knew it was a big fight I wanted, he doesn’t deserve to call the shots. I believed he should be fighting me.” UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby obviously agreed, pitting the pair against each other at UFC 232 in Las Vegas on December 29, and Mendes may yet face more barbs about his past. The card will be headlined by the hugely anticipated third bout between former light-heavyweight king Jon Jones and Swedish star Alexander Gustaffson. Jones himself is making his return from a second doping violation and he’s not alone on the list of former UFC champions, with PED use still an asterisk next to the sport’s mainstream appeal. Aussie heavyweight Mark Hunt has recently shattered the glass on the issue and Volkanovski is part of a growing number of fighters speaking on behalf of clean athletes. “I used to be completely oblivious to it,” Volkanovski said. “You hear stories, big teams and things like that and it frustrates you. You get guys who have probably been doing it for years, they get caught and get a slap on the wrist. “There’s a few of us that are starting to talk about it a little bit more, you’ve got Mark Hunt and guys like Dan Hooker who’ll talk about it. You get some media that talk about it but they stay away from it to sometimes and I don’t think they should. “Guys get six months and they’re able to fight. My last fight was six months ago so these guys are literally getting a slap on the wrist and moving straight back in the ranks. “It does annoy me but I know how it is. I’m not really going to be personal but I will attack some of these guys. If they get caught and I can get a big fight because of it I’ll call them out.” It’s not hard to see where he’s coming from. If there were more role models like the 30-year-old father of two, the sport wouldn’t be fighting for mainstream appeal. And he’s done it the hard way since giving away rugby league to focus on MMA seven years ago, compiling a 13-1 record on the domestic scene before finally cracking the UFC two years ago. It was a gamble. Robert Whittaker was still six years away from becoming Australia’s first UFC champion when Volkanovski debuted on a burgeoning local scene. There were plenty who thought merely reaching the UFC would be his ceiling. “I still think people think it,” he said. “You’re always going to have people like that. It’s human nature. Being a local, a lot of people always think the grass is greener [in the US]. “I think for a while a lot of Aussies were seen just as numbers but now we’ve got contenders and I think people are starting to realise that. “I always said I didn’t want to just be in the UFC I’m going to be the top guy. I’ve pretty much said how it was going to go. “Come December 29th they’re going to think ‘oh shit, he said he was going to do it and he did it’. People are all going to say ‘he’s the real deal’ well I’ve always been the real deal. “The world’s going to know after this one, this is my coming out party.” In the pure fighting stakes, the fifth-ranked Mendes shapes as the toughest challenge of Volkanovski’s career. Of the four losses on his 22-4 record, two have come to arguably the best featherweight of all time in Jose Aldo. The other two came in a title bout with poster boy Conor McGregor and to future hall-of-famer Frankie Edgar. A win over Mendes would put Volkanovski in the frame for bouts with Edgar and Aldo, as well as the likes of champion Max Holloway and number one contender Brian Ortega. Their very similar attributes also bode well for a thrilling showdown. “He’s very explosive but, when it comes to striking and putting things together, I’m a lot more calculated,” Volkanovski said. “A lot of people think he’s done this he’s done that he’s going to be my hardest fight – and he is a tough fight – but, stylistically, don’t be surprised if I go in there and make it look easy. “Every time I go in there I surprise myself with how much stronger I am than these guys and I barely get touched in there. I’m getting more and more confident and it’s dangerous for this division. “The UFC’s giving me these fights and Dana White’s saying publicly they’ve got big plans for me. Come December 29 it’s all going to explode.” The next step on that path may well come under the bright lights of Las Vegas, but Volkanovski says his greatest motivation will remain home in the Illawarra – wife Emma and daughters Ariana and Airlie. “I believe family’s the greatest motivation,” he said. “I want to make that money and support my family and being a champion gets you that. People talk about the belt for themselves and their legacy and stuff like that but I just think fighting for your family means so much more. “People think you’re in the UFC you must be a millionaire. It’s not that way at all. I can’t afford a loss so I go out there and think ‘you’ve got to win for your family’. It’s my trigger, I think of them and, bang, I’m on.”

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