Log off Twitter, put the phone down and have a fight.
That’s the advice Alex Volkanovski has sent to the crop of social media happy fighters calling him out after his win over Max Holloway on the weekend.
Volkanovski was barely out of the cage following his thrilling split decision victory over Holloway before he was hit with criticisms and callouts on Twitter and Instagram.
Chan Sung Jung – the Korean Zombie – was the most vocal, labelling Volk’s win “shameful”. Meanwhile, former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo said Volkanovski "stole" the fight and called for a shot at the 145-pound title.
MORE: Volkanovski defends featherweight title against Holloway
Volkanovski wasn’t bothered with the criticism after returning to Australia this week, preferring to look forward to his next title defence.
Holloway is still ranked number one in the division, with Zabit Magomedsharipov, Brian Ortega, Korean Zombie and Yair Rodriguez rounding out the top five.
Volk has beaten Holloway twice, so there's no clear-cut number one contender.
So his advice for the rest is simple: sort it out amoungst yourselves – he’ll be waiting.
“I want to fight a number one contender, but they need to bloody go out there and do it,” he told Sporting News.
“Stop talking shit and avoiding fights. Go out and make yourself the number one contender.”
After all, that’s the way Volkanovski got his shot at the belt in the first place.
Over the past two years, he has two wins over the consensus greatest featherweight of all time in Holloway, and has scored a dominant victory over the man Holloway took that mantle from in Aldo.
Add a knockout victory over Chad Mendes – who fought for featherweight titles on three separate occasions – and a win over Darren Elkins when he had a busted rib, and you can see where he’s coming from.
“You’ve got Korean Zombie calling me out, saying he wants to fight, but also telling Brian Ortega he can’t fight him because of restrictions. These people…” Volkanovski fumed.
“It’s earned, not given. I earned my shot, it wasn’t given to me. These guys need to do the same.
"They can call me out all they want and say whatever they want.
“But I want them all to fight and I want a number one contender. I want Korean Zombie, or Zabit, Brian or Yair to go out there, win, and for everyone to scream their name and say they’re the one to beat me.”
He knows he sounds like a broken record, but after the struggles he went through to get to the top of the division, he’s now starting to think about his legacy in the sport.
And the only way to enhance it is to fight the best of the best.
“The reason I want number one contenders is because that’s how it should be – that’s how a legacy is grown,” he said.
“Max is well loved and very popular. That’s because he went through the gauntlet to get his shot, and I respect him for it.
“That’s what people respect, and that’s what I’m all about.
“People remember winners, and if you want to be remembered, that’s how it’s gotta be done. It might be slower, but that’s how it is.
“I’m going to be me the whole way through and no one can change that.
“I respect the sport for how it is and how it’s always been. Martial arts is about respect and discipline. That’s what I’m all about.”