The battle inside the Octagon during a UFC event is probably a fraction of the true battles. Anyone who has followed the complete lead-up to the Alexander Volkanovski vs Islam Makhachev fight card has probably observed this. With UFC 284 less than a day away, we can see all that banter culminate into some action.
Making the weight is one of the biggest challenges for a UFC fight. Some think that the current Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has the body frame of a Welterweight. It is hard to deny that the Dagestani has to put up quite some work to make the weight but he did appear 155 lbs on the scale.
On the other hand, Volkanovski is aformer Rugby player who at one point, weighed around 200 lbs. So while many were worried at the concept of moving up from 145 lbs, Alex is actually used to being heavier. He also didn’t even completely hit the lightweight limit as he came in at 154.5 lbs.
Another pre-fight battle is the battle of banters. Both Makhachev and Alexander brought their distinct styles into trash-talking. While the Dagestani can be interpreted as confident but dismissive by many, Volkanovski seemed desperate to verbally ensure that the weight and skill difference are not going to matter much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A637jvn7dk
What did Alexander Volkanovski say?
The featherweight champion had this to say about his preparation,
“I know I’m doing everything I need to. I’m not putting rounds in for the sake of it. I do specifics. I do details. We studied him – obviously you’ve got to respect your opponent to really know what they’re good at. Supposedly, he doesn’t respect me as an opponent. He’s thinking I’m going to be easy. I hope he did do his research like we did because you need to with fights like this.”
After the final face-off, he said to the crowd, “Tomorrow we put it all on the line, but tomorrow I’m coming for f****** everything. Let’s go!”
Who will you be rooting for at the UFC 284 main event?
