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Alexander Volkanovski could have lost leg due to blood infection

Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC / UFC / Getty

UFC featherweight contender Alexander Volkanovski could have lost his leg due to a blood infection, according to ESPN's Sam Bruce.

"I guess it was too hard to tell because I was injured because of the trauma from the kicks, and that sort of threw me off," Volkanovski told ESPN. "But once I went on the plane it went crazy and obviously I just started feeling really crook (sick). Then I went on the next flight and that's when it really hit me; I had 40-plus degree temperatures, it was nasty stuff.

"I was delirious by then and didn't really know what was going on, but I was like 'get me a doctor, I need a doctor'. So they did that and, yeah, it was pretty serious, the antibiotics didn't work straight away; we were really worried about it hitting my tendons and bones because it was very close, once it does that you can have problems. We were pretty lucky the plane stopped in Chile rather than if I'd got on the next flight. Within a couple of hours I would have had to tell them we've got to turn this flight around, and by then the damage would have been done and I could have lost the leg, lose your life. "

Volkanovski (20-1) last competed at UFC 237, earning his biggest career win while taking out former champion Jose Aldo by unanimous decision. The win marked the Australian's 17-straight victory.

Despite the monumental win, Volkanovski didn't earn his shot at featherweight gold yet. That's reserved for former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, who's set to face 145-pound titleholder Max Holloway at UFC 240 in Edmonton on July 27.

The winner of the Holloway-Edgar matchup will likely face Volkanovski on the rumored Australia card this November. Israel Adesanya, Volkanovski's teammate, may also end up in the main event against Robert Whittaker to unify the middleweight titles.

"Israel Adesanya, a training partner of mine, he's actually pushing for that to happen as well," Volkanovski said. "Obviously to have Max and myself on that card, as well as Izzy and Rob Whittaker, you can imagine how big (that would be) for pay-per-views, we're talking serious money for them, so that's something they want. I think the UFC want that, too. It's going to be massive this side of the world."

There's been no update about when Volkanovski will resume training.

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