“I made the decision to fight being underprepared,” the Australian said on another edition of the Who The Fook Are Those Guys podcast. “It was a stupid decision because things weren’t going very easy at the time and I wasn’t too comfortable – I wasn’t going to the gym, I was drinking, I had a baby, I was trying to be the best father I could be and because of an injury I couldn’t train. So, overall things weren’t going too well for me. Usually I handle things much better, but at that time everything was coming at me, and even though I was smiling at everyone and telling them I was doing great, I wasn’t. Everyone has times in their life when they are vulnerable.”
“I’m usually in better control and quite stress-resistant, but everyone has their limit and that’s when the decision came to take the fight. I thought it would get me out of all my problems, including drinking, and get me back in the gym. Honestly, right after the fight I went to the locker room and asked myself, ‘What was I thinking?’ I made that stupid decision because I was on the edge and ended up just breaking down. I sat broken and broken in the locker room and then went to the press conference for some reason. I kept telling myself that I had made a stupid decision”
“I don’t regret the decision to take the fight, but I regret the timing. I’m usually better prepared, I spend a lot more time in the gym, I’m in better physical and mental shape. I’ve always been very professional, but not in the last few months before this fight. You’ve seen me at my most vulnerable and I’m glad I can talk openly about it. I don’t consider it a weakness.”
On October 21 at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, Islam Makhachev was scheduled to make his lightweight title defense against Charles Oliveira, but the Brazilian suffered a dissection two weeks before the event and lost his title shot to Alex Volkanovski, who already lost to the Russian by knockout in the first round.
The Australian fighter is currently preparing for a featherweight title defense against Georgia native Ilia Topuria, with whom he will share the octagon on Feb. 17 at UFC 298 in Anaheim.