However, there's a noticeable change his demeanour ahead of his first title defence against the man he dethroned, former champ Max Holloway.

Plenty of good judges considered their bout last December a five-round shutout to the Aussie, though there are others hold a different - often louder - view.

It's nothing new for the former Warilla-Lake South Gorilla, but he plans on leaving no room for debate when he rematches the Hawaiian on the UFC's 'Fight Island' card in Abu Dhabi on July 12.

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"I'm glad this rematch is happening because I've got something to prove," Volkanovski said.

"You get biased opinions and there's a lot of doubters out there that somehow forget that I clearly dominated Max.

"I'm not hating on them. You're going to get doubters all the time, I get that, but I'm a little bit pissed off and feel disrespected.

"It's like people forget I took out the greatest featherweights of all time, three of them, back to back. I dominated, I haven't lost a round.

"Sometimes people don't remember these things, but they'll remember me finishing Max Holloway."

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Volkanovski ended Holloway's 14-fight win streak in the division with victory in their last meeting, a run stretching back more than six years.

The former champ has been stopped just once in his 21-5 career, a submission defeat to lightweight contender Dustin Poirier way back in 2012.

Closing the show inside the distance would leave Volkanovski unchallenged at the summit of the division.

"I want to go out there and put him away and let everyone know I'm the greatest featherweight in the world, no questions asked," the 31-year-old said.

"I know I can shut him out and win a five-round fight, I've already done it. Straight after the [last] fight my team and I thought there was no point having a rematch because I clearly shut him down.

"That's not good enough for me right now. I've already dominated him for five rounds, this time I'm finishing him.

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"I don't want Max sitting there thinking he got robbed of a decision. I don't know how he thought that [last time].

"When my hand's raised he's going to know he lost because I put him away. There'll be no one second-guessing that."

The bout will co-headline the UFC 251 card - initially scheduled for Perth - on Yas Island, with Kamaru Usman defending his welterweight strap against Gilbert Burns.

Former featherweight champion, and Volkanovski victim, Jose Aldo will also face Russian star Petr Yarn for the vacant bantamweight title.

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Fight Island, a custom-designed solution to global restrictions still in place due to COVID-19, will mean a different preparation, but Volkanovski is adamant he'll be in tip-top condition.

"Prep's definitely different. There's a lot of other obstacles and hurdles, but the body just knows," he said.

"I feel strong, I've been doing a lot of strength and conditioning, keeping fit.

"I've hit another level already after one week and I've still got another few weeks to go so I'm very comfortable with how prep's going. I'm not worried one bit."