Alexander Volkanovski vows he will give Islam Makhachev a hard time on the canvas.
UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski (25-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) was called into the octagon by Makhachev, who submitted Charles Oliveira this past Saturday at UFC 280 to claim the vacant lightweight title.
Makhachev (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) is game to defend his title against Volkanovski at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia, and is oozing confidence after using his dominant grappling to finish another opponent. But Volkanovski says Makhachev won’t be able to control him.
“I feel like he’s sort of underestimating me in a sense,” Volkanovski told Submission Radio. “Where I’m just a featherweight, a small featherweight, how am I going to be able to handle his strength? You know what I mean? That’s how he’s looking at it, which is going to be a shock when we are in that octagon. All week, he might be looking at me thinking I’m small and all that type of stuff, but as soon as I’m in front of him, getting him uncomfortable on the feet, making him want to shoot desperately for a takedown because he’s uncomfortable, then when he tries to grab a hold of me, realizes, ‘Oh sh*t, this short guy isn’t as weak as I thought’ (and) struggles to get me down. Or even if he does get me down, I get straight back up.
“Mentally, he’s breaking. This stuff’s going to get to him, because this is not what he expected. He’s like, ‘How is this little fella doing this?’ And I guarantee you I will. So let’s see how he deals with that. Look, everyone wants to talk about me dealing with him being able to take me down and all that. Trust me: I put myself in this position every camp. That’s the whole point of my training is make me uncomfortable. Put me in the sh*ttiest positions you can. I ain’t going to be fazed by it. I guarantee you I’m getting back up. Let’s see how he deals with a short man getting back to his feet and punching him in the face. That’s what I look forward to seeing. That’s the question that I want to know. I want to see how easily he breaks when things don’t go to plan.”
Makhachev called Volkanovski a “short guy,” but Volkanovski says he’ll make that work in his favor. The featherweight champion has been at a height disadvantage in the majority of fights throughout his career.
“I ain’t going to just be standing in front of you,” Volkanovski said. “You are going to be trying to figure out a puzzle in front of you. The movement’s going to be difficult. You’re going to try and grab a leg and all that type of stuff. But again, you need to be in the right position to feel comfortable to shoot, and he won’t feel that straight away. Then he is going to get a little more desperate to try and grab the legs and all that. And again, this is stuff he hasn’t had to deal with. There’s no way there’s people that have a calculated footwork like I have that he’s faced. There’s no way. So, I can’t wait to put that puzzle in front of him – make him pay, get him uncomfortable.
“And then again, this small-stature, this guy, you know, this is another thing – him calling me short. I don’t think he realizes that that helps me in a situation with someone like him. Let’s be real: The size advantage and that, having that weight is obviously going to be a big factor. But me having this small stature, this stocky build, especially knowing how hard I am to hold down, is going to help me in this situation. Me being like a short, stocky fellow that I am, I’m very hard to hold down. Like, if you get me down – now that obviously I’m going to be training a lot more takedowns, I’m going to be very hard to take down. Usually, I don’t have to worry about that. I know I’m going to get back up. I don’t need to worry about that. Now I’m going to be focusing on that for the next three to four months, you know what I mean? And trust me: I’m going to be very, very, very hard to hold. And that’s something again that he hasn’t really dealt with.”
