Alexander
Volkanovski plans on knocking Islam
Makhachev out in their rematch at
UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
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The UFC featherweight king suffered his lone promotional loss
against Makhachev at UFC 284 in February in a closely contested
decision that many believe could have gone either way. After going
toe-to-toe against Makhachev for twenty-five minutes, Volkanovksi
claims he has been almost impossible to take down or be submitted
inside the gym.
The Australian believes he’ll be a tougher puzzle for Makhachev to
solve as he steps up for his second double-champ bid on 10 days’
notice. While the fight is on short notice, it came as a sort of
relief for Volkanovski, who has already fought twice this year and
was getting impatient to get back in the Octagon. Volkanovski is
focused on finishing the fight early and doesn’t plan on testing
his opponent’s gas tank even though he claims he could.
“I’m gonna be even harder to take down even with the short notice.
Just purely because my freshness, how excited I am and my takedown
defense, I haven’t missed a beat,” Volkanovski said during a recent
media scrum (video via Submission Radio). “So it’s gonna be fun… We
wanna make sure it doesn’t go five rounds. I want to finish it
early; I don’t want to test his gas tank. Don’t get me wrong, I
reckon I can do it but let’s not try and test it. Let’s just finish
him nice and early.”