Islam Makhachev went from preparing for a tall, aggressive striker and submission artist in Charles Oliveira, to a short, stocky, counter striker in Alexander Volkanovski – and he had only 10 days to adjust to the change.
Yet, despite the sudden and drastic switch up in opponents for what will be Makhachev’s second lightweight title defense at Saturday’s UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, his coach Javier Mendez is not worried in the slightest.
“Islam doesn’t care because we can change plans on a dime,” Mendez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “We can change it as many times as we want because he’s well-rounded. He has all the styles. He has everything. He has boxing, Thai boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, sambo, he has everything.
