"Nothing's taken for granted" - Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski's coach details gruelling training regime called for UFC 290

Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski's coach Joe Lopez recently detailed the enervating training regime prepared for the featherweight champion's upcoming title defense at UFC 290.

In a video uploaded to Adesanya's YouTube channel, Lopez described the fight simulator training he prepared for Volkanovski. He mentioned that it is intended to get the reigning featherweight champion accustomed to escaping from bad positions, which could make him a lot more comfortable should he find himself in those positions during his fight.

He said:

"Fight simulator or what we call a make rounder, just put yourself in a bad position and then trying to get out of it." [7:22 - 7:27]

The coach also brought up that the regime is designed to ensure that there's greater attention to detail for both Adesanya and Volkanovski. 'Volk' is preparing for a title unification bout against Yair Rodridguez, and Lopez mentioned that the goal is for 'The Great' to not take any position for granted.

"Nothing's easy, nothing's taken for granted," said Lopez. "What I like about this is I could see, you know, how they're reacting while they're tired and when you've got two of the best guys in the world, well they're gonna get tired real quick, so you could see where their faults are and where they're going right and where they're going wrong." [7:28 - 7:58]

The training regime looked to have paid off when Alexander Volkanovski fought lightweight champion Islam Makachev this past February. So, it will be interesting to see how he performs against Rodriguez, especially after also working with a striker like 'Izzy'.

Check out the full video:

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Israel Adesanya and coach Eugene Bareman share emotional moment

Israel Adesanya and his City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman recently shared an emotional moment during the premiere of the middleweight champion's documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Following the premiere of 'Izzy's documentary, Baremen joined the creators onstage and shared a touching speech with the audience. He complimented the team and thanked the UFC middleweight champion for changing his life.

He said:

"Thank you for the team for sticking around and coming us for quite a few years...My only other thank you...Because it's changed my life and subsequently the life of many others. The only other thank you goes to you, bro." [1:10 - 2:13]