Islam Makhachev "looking down" on Alexander Volkanovski will give him trouble, says CKB teammate Dan Hooker

Dan Hooker feels that Islam Makhachev is underestimating Alexander Volkanovski in light of the recent callouts made by the UFC lightweight champion.

Following his win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 280, Islam Makhachev challenged Volkanovski to a super fight. The 31-year-old wants to snatch the UFC featherweight champion's position as the No.1-ranked men's pound-for-pound fighter. The Dagestani team is willing to travel to the 'land Down Under' in Volkanovski's backyard.

While speaking in a recent interview on Submission Radio, Volkanovski's City Kickboxing teammate Dan Hooker claimed that Makhachev was "looking down" on the Australian fighter and this could prove to be counterproductive for the Russian:

"For Islam to turn around very quickly and call out Alexander Volkanovski...I feel like they're doing it because obviously it's a chance at the No.1 pound-for-pound rank, but I feel like they are kind of looking down at [Volkanovski]. They're in for a whole lot of trouble."

Makhachev utilizes his wrestling prowess to dominate fights, which in Hooker's opinion will be difficult to replicate against Volkanovski:

"He's an incredibly difficult man to hold on the ground. He [Islam Makhachev] keeps saying that he's short and stuff like that but holding a guy that's stocky on the ground is incredibly difficult. So I feel like he's in for an icredibly tough test."

It is interesting to hear Dan Hooker's take on the fight since he trains with Volkanovski regularly and also has first-hand experience of the famed Makhachev pressure from the top. At UFC 267, Makhachev defeated Hooker by submission in the very first-round.

Watch the full interview below:

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Islam Makhachev's coach talks about how Alexander Volkanovski would perform at lightweight

Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski shook hands inside the octagon in the aftermath of UFC 280 to set the stage for a potential superfight in the future. The UFC featherweight champion has long been chasing a move to 155-pounds owing to the lack of viable opponents in his weight class.

Makhachev's longtime coach Javier Mendez recently weighed in on his expectations from 'The Great' at 155-pounds. Speaking on the Schmozone podcast, he stated:

"I think he'll do as good as anybody. I think he has a heck of a time making 145-pounds. He's not a small guy. He's a shorter guy, but he's not small. He's a very muscular guy and what I like about him is the way he carries himself. He's a professional inside and outside the cage."

Watch the Schmozone podcast below: