UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski admits he only accused Max Holloway of faking an injury out of frustration.

Since beating Holloway (23-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) in two consecutive title fights, Volkanovski has been asked about a Holloway trilogy non-stop. It’s often rare for a fighter down 2-0 in a series to get a third crack, but since their rematch at UFC 251 was tightly contested, a potential trilogy was always looming.

A third fight between Volkanovski and Holloway was finally scheduled for UFC 272, but just days after the fight was announced, Holloway had to withdraw due to injury. Eager to compete, Volkanovski was booked against Chan Sung Jung instead just a month later on April 9 at UFC 273, only to find out that Holloway will be ready by then, offering to serve as a backup.

That prompted Volkanovski (23-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC) to question Holloway’s injury, something he ultimately regrets saying.

“It was frustrating because at the time I really wanted that fight, you know what I mean, and once you heard he got injured, especially when they announced it earlier, it was all a bit confusing and frustrating,” Volkanovski told Submission Radio.

“So you seen my frustration obviously. I wanted to tweet and have a little shot at Max and his fans, and that was the only reason, which was pretty silly on my behalf, to be honest. That just shows you where sort of my head was at back then, you know what I mean? That’s something that I’ve really been working on lately.”

Volkanovski said he used to let the negative comments get to him – but he won’t anymore.

“I’m such a people pleaser, right? I always want people on my side and when they’re not, I take whatever they say to heart and all that type of stuff,” Volkanovski said. “So, I’ve always cared what haters said and like what all these people would say. So I always felt like I had something to prove and wanted to get back at him, but now I literally don’t give a F about any of that.”