Prime vs. Prime: Conor McGregor vs. Alexander Volkanovski, who would win?

Few featherweights have been more successful than Conor McGregor and Alexander Volkanovski. The Irishman is a former champion in the UFC's 145-pound weight class, having never lost a single bout in the division that first elevated him to MMA superstardom.

Meanwhile, 'The Great' is the current UFC featherweight champion. Like 'The Notorious', he has never tasted defeat at 145 pounds and ranks among the greatest champions in the division's history. Recently, the two men expressed mutual interest in facing each other.

While the bout is unlikely, and questions about Conor McGregor's commitment to a true return continue to arise, it raised fan interest. Who would win if the two men clashed inside the octagon? Better yet, who would win if the bout was contested by both fighters in their prime?

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Fighter Profile: Conor McGregor

Much has been said about Conor McGregor's evolution—or devolution, to some—as a fighter. While opinions about how good he still is vary, it's clear that there are some stylistic differences between Conor McGregor as a lightweight and his previous run as a featherweight.

This can be credited to his first bout with Nate Diaz. At the time, 'The Notorious' was a dynamic kicker. But after gassing out in the first round of his encounter with Stockton's finest, he abandoned the use of his kicks altogether. After his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr., his fighting style changed even more so.

He began adopting a boxing-heavy approach. However, the version of Conor McGregor that fans generally regard as the best fought at featherweight. Back then, the future UFC double champion fought from a wide, bladed karate stance that enabled him to dart in and out of range with supreme speed.

Furthermore, he kept his lead leg turned inwards, which meant that, as a southpaw, it was nearly impossible for orthodox fighters to low kick as the differences in stance alignment meant they could only land inside low kicks. An inside low kick on an inwards shin that can be easily raised for a check is risky.

Additionally, Conor McGregor often used kicks. The moment a fight started, he used either a front kick or spinning back kick, both targeting the body, to pressure his foes towards the fence. His goal was to trap his opponents between him and the cage. This remains Conor McGregor's preferred area of engagement.

With his opponent's back against the fence, 'The Notorious' peppered them with non-committal punches for every second of inactivity. He did so to dupe them into assuming an avalanche of power strikes was on the horizon, prompting them to lunge forward to create breathing room.

Unfortunately, they lunged right into the path of his left straight. If his foe tried circling away from his left side, Conor McGregor used spinning kicks as barriers to stop his opponent in their tracks. In other instances, he presented a different threat if his opponents were adamant about circling away from his power side.

The former featherweight timed his opponent as they shuffled away from his left side, enabling him to uncork a long left hook powered by maximum torque as he turned his hips all the way into the punch while landing it with near-full extension. This is how he KO'd Chad Mendes in their legendary bout.

As a grappler, 'The Notorious' was competent but rarely ever used his grappling offensively. Instead, he was largely defensive, using his strong hips and size advantage to sprawl and stuff takedowns. Ironically, his greatest defensive flaws were in the striking department.

Conor McGregor struggled to deal with southpaw low-kickers, which was even evident in his first fight against Dustin Poirier as he absorbed several low kicks before KO'ing him. Furthermore, he was uncomfortable fighting with his own back towards the fence as he functioned better on the front foot.

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Fighter Profile: Alexander Volkanovski

Alexander Volkanovski is one of the most well-rounded fighters in UFC history. The reigning featherweight champion is a dynamic threat in all areas of MMA and has quickly become one of the most punishing fighters at 145 pounds. Short and stocky, the Australian is an athletic specimen unlike any other.

While he isn't an exceptionally powerful striker, he is tremendously strong, blindingly fast and possesses a bottomless gas tank that even rivals the great Max Holloway. What separates Alexander Volkanovski from the rest of the pack is, in part, how he uses feints and volume.

The stocky Australian constantly uses feints in conjunction with an avalanche of strikes. Both serve a purpose. His feints are designed to overload his opponent's decision-making process in the octagon. This is also how Alexander Volkanovski manages to tire everyone out, even the likes of Islam Makhachev.

He establishes the threat of his strikes while feinting so that his opponents are constantly on edge, exhausting their nervous system as they react to threats they're unable to determine as just feints or committed strikes. Meanwhile, the City Kickboxing standout's volume builds off of the work of his feints.

Volkanovski throws a constant stream of punches and kicks that shut his opponents down. As they react to his higher output, they eventually react incorrectly, paying for it by absorbing a punishing blow. The more decisive strikes Volkanovski lands, the more timid his opponents become.

Before long, they retreat into a defensive, offensively inert shell. Even taller fighters struggle to use their range to keep him on the end of their jabs. Fans often assume 'The Great' has a reach advantage over his opponents due to his long limbs. Unfortunately, his short stature undercuts his length.

Punching upwards shortens a fighter's reach, as is evident by extending one's arm at a wall until only the fist is touching it, then raising the arm a few inches upwards to find that the fist is no longer touching the wall. This is the bane of Volkanovski's height. Taller foes often try to jab him but find no success.

This is due to three main reasons. First, 'The Great' interrupts his opponent's jab by jabbing with them, at the same time, stopping them from building combinations off of their own jab. If they can't measure the distance with their jab, then they can't land a follow-up right hand.

Second, Volkanovski counters the jab with calf kicks, as he did against Max Holloway. A jab requires a forward step that extends a fighter's stance. In doing so, the jabber exposes their lead leg. Thus, the Australian correctly uses his longest weapon—a low kick—to attack the nearest target, which is his opponent's lead leg.

The calf kick destabilizes his foe's stance, much like Dustin Poirier did against Conor McGregor in his initial win over the Irishman. As the opponent tries to reset their stance after absorbing a calf kick, Alexander Volkanovski pounces with combinations over the top, taking advantage of their weak footing.

The third option comes right after Volkanovski interrupts his opponent's jab with his own, he throws a looping right hand over the top to wobble his stunned opponent. Additionally, his stance-switching also plays a role in his striking as he changes the alignment of his strikes in his shifting combinations.

Despite having a Greco-Roman background, 'The Great' no longer employs the grinding cage-wrestling approach that was once his bread and butter and earned him a win against former featherweight champion José Aldo. Instead, his wrestling is used mainly for defensive purposes.

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The Verdict

There is no doubt that a battle between Conor McGregor and Alexander Volkanovski in both their primes would be a striking affair. In such a bout, the Australian would be vulnerable if he employs shifting combinations, as there would be a gap down the middle mid-shift.

Conor McGregor's left straight would be a fight-ending counterpunch in such a case. However, 'The Notorious' would have to exercise caution as well. His former wide stance left his lead leg exposed, and Volkanovski's stance-switching means he'd be able to batter the back of his lead leg with calf kicks from southpaw.

Additionally, McGregor's high-energy, on-edge style where he tries to counter everything would leave him open to having his nervous system exhausted by Volkanovski's constant feinting. A three-round bout would favor Conor McGregor, but a five-round fight would likely lead to a win for 'The Great'.