Jan Blachowicz was left heartbroken after the fight against Magomed Ankalaev did not go in his favor but still ended in a draw. He initially wanted Ankalaev to get the belt but later, backtracked on that statement. Now the Polish come forward to talk about the Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski fight and he is a clear favorite.
During an interview with James Lynch, Polish power had this to say,
“We will see, but I think Islam will take him down and control the fight on the ground and finish Volkanovski maybe before time, but he’s the top of top fighters so we will see. But if I had put my money, I would put it for Islam. I think his wrestling is just unbelievable he’s gonna use it. Take him down, control him on the ground. Maybe submission. We will see.”
He also addressed whether Khabib’s absence in the corner will affect the reigning lightweight champ’s performance, “I think they’ve [been] in contact. He called to him, say what he has to do. He will support him. Maybe not officially, but unofficial for sure, and mentally he will be in his corner so I don’t think that will change anything.”
How is Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski shaping up?
There is naturally a lot of hype regarding this fight even though Makhachev complained Dana wasn’t doing enough to promote this bout properly. Both fighters have appeared in a lot of interviews now and the constant barrage of questions seems to have had some effects on their initial plans.
Makhachev was talking about checking Volk’s wrestling earlier but now has expressed the desire to knock him out if possible. Alex on the other hand has hired so much praise regarding his opponent’s ground game, that he could deliberately go down just to test how his own skills hold up.
We will have to wait to find out what strategies both fighters apply when the fight hopefully takes place on February 11th.
