It’s literally going to go ‘down’ at the ‘down under’ come February 12th in Perth, Australia where Alexander Volkanovski takes on Islam Makhachev. Islam Makhachev has been seen taking occasional jabs at his opponent but Alex has been pretty serious with the clap backs. Now that the UFC 284 Alexander Volkanovski vs Islam Makhachev is coming up, we have seen new developments.
Volk has never shied away from his good relationship with his fellow Kiwi Israel Adesanya. Israel has previously favored Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker to win against Makhachev even though the Dagestani was a clear favorite. Leading up to this fight ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been probing up his featherweight champion friend and spoke with him in a recent podcast,
“Everyone says that, ‘I love being the underdog,’ but I do. That’s the challenge, being the underdog, proving the doubters and the haters, all that type of stuff — I don’t let it really get to me, but I let it get to me enough where I’m like, ‘Alright, I’m going to train a little bit harder, I’m going to shut these guys up, and I’m going to go out there and do it.’ It makes me want those fights. Those are fights that I want.”
Is Alexander’s claims about Makhachev true?
Alex throws a lot of points in his speech so we will consider them on a case-by-case basis.
The Australian fighter claims that he is heavier now which will make him more sturdy and harder to take down. But Islam has been working on his ground game for a very long time and boxing mains like ‘The Great’ will probably not stop those takedowns and groundwork with their limited experience. Plus he is not very accustomed to the new weight limit.
Volkanovski also seems confident about his punching power but Makhachev has fought the likes of Drew Dober so he isn’t a novice against strong opponents. Khabib’s absence from his corner may affect the AKA prospect but he is experienced and focused.
We hope to see a good fight on 12th February.
