ALEX Volkanovski’s win over Darren Elkins last weekend was already one of the best performances of his career but the rising UFC featherweight has revealed he pulled off the biggest win of his tenure with a debilitating rib injury.

Volkanvoski, who dusted Elkins by unanimous decision to break into the featherweight rankings for the first time, thought his American debut could be in jeopardy when he suffered the injury three days before the fight in one of his final training sessions.

“Training midweek, as I always do, just trying to stay sharp during the week. It was Wednesday night, three days before the fight,” Volkanovski told The Daily Telegraph.

“I was just rolling, it was my last round of rolling and I didn’t even want to do it.

“I was fragile and cutting weight, I was a bit brittle and my rib just went crook. We think it’s the intercostal muscle.

“It was painful, that’s for sure. It was a worry, for a while I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fight. I was in a lot of pain, I wasn’t even able to get out of my bed that night.”

The 29-year old says he ways in too much pain to cry as his shot at announcing himself as a contender at 145 pounds (65.77 kg) seemed to vanish in an instant.

“It just hit me – I’m away from my family for five weeks and it was starting to hit me that I can’t fight, I can’t even get out of bloody bed.

“This is why I do this, I do this for my family and I just thought ‘what a waste of money and time and I don’t even get to give back to the family’.

“It really hit me, and I started crying but I couldn’t even cry cause it was hurting my ribs that much.

Plenty of ice and anti-inflammatories got Volkanovski to fight night where he overcame to odds to dominate Elkins and earn his fifth UFC win.

“From talking to my coaches, my manager and the doctor even, they told me the adrenalin rush is a beautiful thing, it’ll cover a lot and I reckon you can do it. So I was like ‘let’s do it’

“Throwing that first right hand in the cage, an elbow I think it was, the adrenalin rush probably wasn’t kicking in yet and it took the wind straight out of me.

“I was like “oh shit, it’s going to be a long night!’.

The rib injury never left his mind, and according to Volkanovski it stopped him from knocking out the iron-chinned Elkins.

Volkanvoski dropped the American in the first round and attempted a guillotine choke on the bewildered Elkins rather than unload his trademark ground a pound in an effort to shield his ribs.

“The reason I went for the guillotine was because I couldn’t go to the ground. Ground and pound is my thing, everyone knows that.

“I was worried about his knee framing into my ribs. These little hesitations made things go a different way.

“I got to show a bit more of my stand up, which I was going to anyway. I watched the tape and it was nowhere near as bad as I thought while I was in there.

“I’m always my hardest critic.”

The Wollongong product says winning the biggest fight of his career while under duress has taken his confidence to a whole new level.

“The striking and composure probably wasn’t up to scratch before this fight. Now? I’m comfortable as ever in there,” Volkanovski said.

“Now, from doing that, that gave me so much confidence and I’m going to be that composed and that ready next time I’m in that cage that it’s scary.

“Even though he tagged me a lot, I’ve still got a few bumps and bruises, I saw absolutely everything he was throwing.

“I was always going with them. I probably shouldn’t have gotten hit that much. But the fact I was so composed in there is scary.”

Volkanovski still wants a fight with former title challenger Chad Mendes, who made a spectacular return from a USADA suspension later that night with a first-round knockout of Myles Jury.

“If I get this fight with Chad Mendes and I get a full camp don’t be surprised if I walk through another opponent.

“I know he’s really good, but I’m that high on confidence right now I feel like I can take out anyone in this division.

“I reckon I should be ranked a little bit higher and I don’t think he should be ranked as high as he is purely because he’s coming off a suspension.

“I don’t think he deserves to be in a position to be calling the shots and I think (matchmaker) Sean Shelby knows that.”

A Mendes-Volkanovski battle could serve as a main event for the UFC’s next visit to Australia in Adelaide this December.

Volkanovski has indicated he’d be happy to wait until then for his next fight if he was granted main event or co-main event status – otherwise he’s keen to fit another fight in before the end of the year.