UFC 283 was an eventful card and it set off the 2023 PPV schedule for the company on a positive note. But, things are just picking up steam as the UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev is set to return at UFC 284. On his very first title defense, Islam will face the P4P king and the featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski.
Just to refresh the minds of the readers, Islam Makhachev became the lightweight champ at UFC 280. In the PPV event, Makhachev submitted the no. 1 title contender at the time, Charles Oliveira. The bout was highly anticipated as fans wanted to see Islam finally get tested. Oliveira was the last person to hold the belt and had the most number of submissions in UFC.
However, putting all the doubts to rest, Makhachev won the bout in the second round. Alexander Volkanovski, on the other hand, beat Max Holloway at UFC 276. He put an end to the rivalry with Holloway with the third consecutive win over the former champ. Volk is definitely in the contentions with Max and Aldo to be the best featherweight ever in the UFC.
The fans and pundits have a lot of respect for Alexander Volkanovski because of his skills and fight IQ. However, according to Alex himself, one person who perhaps does not have the same respect for him is his next opponent, Islam Makhachev.
Alexander Volkanovski sends a stern warning to Islam Makhachev ahead of UFC 284
Alexander Volkanovski recently appeared on his teammate Israel Adesanya‘s YouTube channel FREESTYLEBENDER. As fans already know, Volkanovski and the former UFC middleweight champ train together at City Kickboxing in New Zealand. They share a great bond and Izzy is often in the front rows for Alex’s fights.
During a conversation with Adesanya’s brother, Alexander The Great made a keen observation about his next opponent. According to the 145lbs champion, Islam Makhachev had a look of dismissiveness in his eyes. Makhachev is already a huge favorite over Alex for their upcoming contest. Hence, Volkanovski feels as if Islam is somewhat overlooking him ahead of the much-anticipated bout.
He said, “You can see in his face like, ‘this Guy ain’t too big I’ve seen that on plenty of people’s faces. I’ve seen that on my previous fights. My last four, five fights, but that face quickly changes when I’m in the octagon. Give me 10 seconds with him, that face changes real quick…. They try to grab ahold of me and I’m a little brick f****** wall, there’s another problem.”
“That’s when you see them start to crumble and be like, ‘f***, what have I got myself into?’ that’s exactly what’s going to happen with Islam [Makhachev], especially the way he’s looking. I can tell he really thinks he’s going to be way too strong.” (h/t via MMA Fighting)
🏆 vs 🏆
— UFC (@ufc) January 25, 2023
#1 and #2 P4P in the world meet on our next PPV!
[ #UFC284 | Sat. Feb 11 | 📍 Perth, Australia ] pic.twitter.com/4bnBZUteAA
According to Sherdog, Islam stands at 5’10 and Volkanovki stands at 5’6. On top of that, Makhachev’s power is much better documented. In all aspects of the bout, the Dagestani has the edge over the Australian. So it will definitely be interesting to see how the bout plays out between the two. Fans can catch UFC 284 live on PPV on February 11 inside RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
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