Alexander Volkanovski expects Islam Makhachev to ‘easily break’ if he cannot land takedowns in UFC 284 fight
Expected to share the Octagon at UFC 284 next February in Perth, Australia – reigning featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, and newly minted lightweight titleholder, Islam Makhachev are widely touted to compete for the summit of the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Clinching the undisputed lightweight crown last weekend at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Makhachev managed to land a second round submission win over former undisputed division best, Charles Oliveira, dispatching the Brazilian with a taut arm-triangle submission success.
For Volkanovski, the New South Wales favorite entered the Octagon following the former’s submission win, setting up a February clash in his home land, in a champion versus champion outing.
Scoring a quartet of successful title defenses a division lower at featherweight, Alexander Volkanovski defeated former champion, Max Holloway two times as champion, as well as knocking back both Brian Ortega, and South Korean veteran, Chan Sung Jung.
Alexander Volkanovski expects Islam Makhachev to wilt in UFC 284 clash
Touting his own takedown defense and ability to return to his feet if he does end up on the canvas against the revered grappler, Makhachev, Volkanovski claimed that he was excited to see how demoralized the Dagestan native would become if he was unable to land a series of takedowns.
“I feel like he’s (Islam Makhahcev) sort of underestimating me in a sense,” Alexander Volkanovski said during an interview with Submission Radio. “Where I’m just a featherweight, a small featherweight, how am I gonna be able to handle his strength? You know what I mean? That’s how he’s looking at it. Which is gonna be a shock when we are in that Octagon.”
“…Then when he tries to grab a hold of me, realizes, ‘Oh, sh*t, this short guy isn’t as weak as I thought, struggles to get me down.” Alexander Volkanovski explained. “Or even if he does get me down, I get straight back up. Mentally, he’s breaking. This stuff’s gonna get to him, cause this is not what he expected. He’s like, how is this little fella doing this? And I guarantee you I will. So, let’s see how he deals with that. … That’s the question that I wanna know. I want to see how easily he breaks when things don’t go to plan.”
In his most recent Octagon walk, Volkanovski turned in a third career win over the aforementioned Hawaii favorite, Holloway – besting the former titleholder over the course of five rounds in the co-main event of UFC 277 back in July during International Fight Week.
