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SYDNEY – Alex Volkanovski says you didn’t see the best version of him on Saturday night in Australia, but given the right opponent, he thinks you will soon.

Volkanovski (16-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) outclassed short-notice opponent Shane Young (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) for a unanimous decision to open the UFC Fight Night 121 main card. He was a heavy favorite in the fight and picked up a pair of 30-26 scores and a 30-27.

“A win’s a win – 30-26, so it’s still a dominant performance,” Volkanovski told MMAjunkie after the fight. “But I was just playing it a bit too safe. The fact he was making his debut, and I believe I was probably expected to win, I just didn’t want to take too many risks. … But let me start shooting through these ranks, give me one of these top guys, and then I can really perform.”

UFC Fight Night 121 took place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. It aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

The fight was at a 150-pound catchweight instead of featherweight, owing to the short amount of time Young would have to cut weight when he took the fight for an injured Humberto Bandenay.

And Bandenay had been a replacement for Jeremy Kennedy. All Volkanovski wants is for someone to stick around long enough after a booking to make it to a fight with him, which would allow him to have a full camp for the same opponent. And he believes a matchup with a higher-ranked foe will help lead to that.

“It’s not up to me, but at the same time all these people are pulling out (against me),” he said. “Everyone wants a perfect camp whenever they fight me (and) that’s because they worry they’ve got a tough fight ahead of them. … But I believe if I start fighting some of these top guys, we won’t get pullouts and we’ll get the original fight. That’s what I believe will happen.”

With any luck, Australia’s Volkanovski will get to stay in his home country in February for UFC 221 in Perth. That’s where he’d be more than happy to return to try to go to 4-0 in the UFC.

As for who he’d like to fight there, if you’re a bully, feel free to raise your hand.

“Fighting in Australia is always good,” he said. “It’s pay-per-view – I can’t argue with that. It’s around the corner, and I want to fight as regularly as I can. I’m doing this for my family, so I want to make money. And all these bad boys, all these guys that like to talk a lot and try to bully people – as I’ve said many times, try to bully me and see what happens.”

For more from Volkanovski, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 121, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

Filed under: Featured, News, UFC, Videos