In February this year, 34-year-old Alex Volkanovski made a bold exit: from the 65.8kg division, the Macedonian-born Australian moved up the weight division up to 70.3kg and s fought with Islam Makhachev. It turned out spectacular: Makhachev retained the belt, but the lighter Volkanovski suddenly put the Russian fighter to a tough test for five rounds.
Now Volaknovski returns to his category and will fight with a man who looks the most like Makhachev. For a long time, the Mexican Yair Rodriguez wanted to be associated with Zabit Magomedsharipov, as real sparkling drummers. But Zabit gave up, but Rodriguez is on two wins and will try to disable the mechanism called Alex Volkanovski. Volkanovski is really like an engine that you can’t turn off: he has never lost a featherweight fight and crushes his opponents with pace, technique and confidence.
– Did the fight against Islam give you something that you can use now, provided they are two completely different adversaries?
– In this camp, I took a little mass, tried to defend better from the fight, but in general they are two completely different opponents. I can only speak about protection against painful and choking holds, because in the last camp I perfected this moment, and if I now decide to transfer Yair to the ground, and he will try to throw painful holds, my preparation for Islam will be a plus. I developed a defense and resistance to tricks. But, probably, it’s the only thing that worked there and will work here.
– By how much does your weight differ then and during this training, if we take last week?
– The difference is only a few kilograms, because I didn’t just want to eat at that time, I wanted to gain high-quality muscle mass. I had an experience where I weighed more and couldn’t move as well as I do now. I didn’t need to mindlessly gain weight, so it hasn’t changed much for me now.
– Rodriguez is a very specific opponent, did you call someone specifically for the preparation?
– In addition to all my Freestyle Fighting Jim partners, there were several guys who specifically helped groom Yair: Carl Vanroon, 11-time World Taekwondo Champion. There was “Blood Diamond” (Mike Mateta, 3-2 in MMA, the nickname translates to bloody diamond. – “”) a very experienced kickboxer; also helped by Brentyn Mumford (11-8 in MMA).
The main challenge for me was all these unpredictable attacks from Yair. We were preparing for it, the guys working with me are much bigger than Yair and work better than Yair at their specific distance. “Blood” [Матета] very good at close range, very unpredictable, Carl was just as good at long range, maybe better than anyone in the world. I think we are very well prepared for this.
– You said in the prep movie that you were happy to defeat opponents in their own element. Are you really interested in trying to beat Rodriguez on the stand?
“Yes, I like beating people at their own game. I show that I am good at everything, that I have a good fight IQ, I have a good fight plan. I can’t tell you the plan of the fight, but I would like to try to finish earlier than expected in a standing position.
– In your division there are two bright undefeated fighters, many of whom are waiting for a full-time duel: Movsar Evloev and Ilya Topuria. How do you think their confrontation will end and who will meet you first?
– I think Movsar has shown that he is a more developed fighter, he has a good fight. Although Elijah showed he had a great position. It would be an interesting and fun duel, but the undefeated contenders are better not to be together. Better let them get to me and I’ll have more candidates who haven’t been defeated.
– You lost the previous fight, but you probably played it much better than expected: five rounds against Islam Makhachev with a very good ending. Does that give you confidence now?
– I can’t say that gives me confidence, because stylistically these two fights are completely different. I knew very well even before the last fight that Yair with his unpredictable style is a serious test. And after the fight [с Исламом] nothing has changed, it is still the same serious challenge.
– Did you watch the fight with Islam?
– Yes, I watched this fight several times, I like to review my fights, analyze, study where I made a mistake. So I watched this fight several times. I made a few mistakes there, but I was well aware of them and didn’t watch the replay. As soon as the fight was over, I already knew what I had done wrong. It should be noted that somewhere my slightly provocative behavior got in the way. I tried to defend against a takedown and showed something to the audience, and the next moment it was already behind me or translated. So I tried to load myself up a bit, to shake up the audience, there was no disrespect for Islam. But in the end, it led to the fact that I ended up in bad positions, so I really regret it.
– Do you want a second fight against Makhachev?
– A lot. I really want revenge on Islam. I think the world is interested in this fight. I think this is one of the biggest fights the UFC can put on right now. The fans want to see it, so it would be a great fight for our careers as well.
“Where would you choose: Vegas, Abu Dhabi, one of the cities in Australia?”
– Everywhere. It’s a rematch I’d spend anywhere. I do not worry. Sure, it’s a big enough fight to top the card in Vegas, but if they decide to do it in Australia or Abu Dhabi, I’ll fight anywhere. I want this revenge so badly that I’m ready to fight anywhere. But first, we need to take care of Yair.
— Your video with Hasbullah (known on the internet as Hasbik) has garnered the most views on your channel. Didn’t he write to you after the battle against Islam?
– No, we don’t have much contact with Hasbullah, we only spoke with his manager. Maybe I should meet him again, see what he decides to do this time, maybe hit me in the face again with a burger or want to beat me up.
– Who do you think would win: you in your current form or Conor McGregor from the 2015 model.
“It would be a great fight because featherweight peak Conor was a very tough opponent, but my preparation and the way we put together the fight plan… My stamina, my level of fight IQ and my ability to systematically sort opponents would have brought me victory.
Live broadcasts of the Mixed Martial Arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
