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Alexander Volkanovski is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. However, newly crowned UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev seems intent on dethroning 'The Great' for MMA supremacy. The exact date for the future bout remains unknown.
However, based on both men facing off inside the octagon right after the Dagestani phenom's title-winning triumph at UFC 280, it is a matchup that has captured the UFC's interest. Given Islam Makhachev's dominant performance against Charles Oliveira, many fans expect a repeat of his victory.
While he may very well defeat Alexander Volkanovski, the reigning UFC featherweight kingpin possesses a different set of skills that might trouble his potential foe in a manner that fans seem unwilling to admit. This list details five reasons why 'The Great' will prove more challenging to Islam Makhachev than many expect.
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#5. Alexander Volkanovski's stocky stature
While the current UFC featherweight titleholder won't enjoy any benefits in kickboxing exchanges due to his short frame, his stocky stature will benefit him when it comes to defending takedowns. Islam Makhachev, much like his compatriot Khabib Nurmagomedov, is intent on wrestling his foes.
However, just as 'The Eagle' learned during his bout against Al Iaquinta, securing conventional takedowns on short opponents is difficult. Shooting for takedowns against short fighters requires level changes with a much greater range of motion that taller fighters aren't physically accustomed to.
Furthermore, Alexander Volkanovski's shortness means he has a shorter range of motion. So not only does he require less time to scoot his hips back and sprawl, Islam Makhachev will need more time due to the wider range of motion.
Given the advantages his short stature grants him in wrestling exchanges, added with his own Greco-Roman wrestling experience, 'The Great' will likely be far more difficult for his opponent to take down than many predict.
#4. His boxing neutralizes his reach disadvantage
As evidenced by his fights against the legendary Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski is an exceptional boxer by MMA standards. Furthermore, he is unique among short fighters for possessing a boxing game designed to counter taller foes who enjoy longer reaches.
While 'Blessed' has shorter arms than Alexander Volkvanovski, he is also five inches taller than his Australian rival. All one needs to do to understand how height undercuts a perceived reach advantage is to face a wall and fully extend one's arm until the fingers are barely touching the wall.
Upon doing so, one only needs to raise their arm five inches higher to notice how their fingers are no longer touching the wall. Thus, even with shorter arms, Max Holloway's height gave him a serious reach advantage over Alexander Volkanovski, who was forced to punch upwards.
To counter this, the Australian great stepped forward every time 'Blessed' himself stepped forward, landing a jab simultaneously with his opponent. By jabbing with his opponent, Alexander Volkanovski makes them pay every time they try abusing their superior reach by interrupting them mid-jab.
Not only does he stop them from building combinations off their jabs, but he also times his overhand-right over the top of his foe's jab to counter them as they step into range. His ability to do so against a taller and far superior boxer like Max Holloway does not bode well for the Dagestani grappler.
#3. Alexander Volkanovski's volume
The reigning UFC featherweight champion once mentioned that his approach to fighting involves intentionally overloading his opponents with an avalanche of decisions in very little time. This is a direct product of his high-volume striking and forces his foes into offensively inert, defensive shells.
The sheer number of strikes 'The Great' throws overwhelms his opponents with so much variety that all they can do is react. By spending entire rounds merely reacting, his adversaries are not only able to mount their own offense, but they eventually react incorrectly.
While Islam Makhachev is a more defensively responsible striker than Khabib Nurmagomedov ever was, his low-volume approach and insistence on keeping his combinations short means he's poorly suited for the extended kickboxing exchanges that Alexander Volkanovski specializes in creating.
#2. His cardio
One of the means through which Islam Makhachev defeats his adversaries is by overwhelming them with his cardio. The Dagestani grappler drowns his opponents with extended wrestling sequences. He deprives them of any breathing room with his calculated pressure and constantly returns them to the mat.
However, his ability to sap his opponents of their energy isn't simply down to his knack for seizing the initiative of the bout but by using his wrestling to dictate the fight. The reigning lightweight king genuinely possesses better cardio than most of the opponents he faces, enabling him to maintain a pace that is difficult to overcome.
But Alexander Volkanovski is among the few fighters whose cardio has never failed him. Furthermore, 'The Great' has exceptional cardio, having fought Max Holloway thrice, with each bout being a 25-minute affair. The Hawaiian is well-known for his superhuman cardio and has broken significant strike records.
Yet, even 'Blessed' was unable to overwhelm his divisional rival as he had all the others. The superb cardio that the 145-pound champion possesses will serve him well against Islam Makhachev and enable him to keep up with his opponent's high pace.
#1. Calf kicks
One of the tools that the Australian great used to defeat Max Holloway was a calf kick. Conventional low kicks are aimed at an opponent's thigh. A calf kick, however, is an even lower kick which—as the name implies—targets a foe's calf. Due to this, calf kicks are more difficult to defend against.
One cannot simply raise and turn their leg to block a calf kick with the upper, thicker part of the shin like one can with a conventional low kick. The calf kick won't be blocked. Additionally, since a good jab entails extending one's stance by stepping forward with the punch, calf kicks are reliable counters to the jab.
Thus, short fighters typically use calf kicks to counter jabs from taller foes because the stance extension caused by jabs overexposes a fighter's leg. Islam Makhachev, being a fairly technical striker, uses his jab well and will look to do so against the short Alexander Volkanovski.
However, by using his calf kick, 'The Great' will effectively counter his foe's jab while simultaneously destabilizing his stance to temporarily open him up to punches over the top.
