Alexandre Volkanovski see Islam Makhachev reigning at lightweight for a while.
Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) defends lightweight title against Dustin Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) in the headliner of Saturday’s UFC 302 (pay-per-view/ESPN2/ESPN+) at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ
“Islam will be too good,” said Volkanovski in his Youtube channel. “I think he’s a very safe fighter to make mistakes and get caught against someone like Dustin Poirier. Dustin Poirier is a great fighter. I just think it’s an uphill fight for anyone and I don’t see anyone beating Islam for a while – unless they catch it, right?”
In a clash between two southpaws, former featherweight champion Volkanovski analyzed where Makhachev could face problems – even though he thinks he is too calculated to fall into them.
“He doesn’t like to go straight where he feels in danger,” Volkanovski said of Makhachev. “He’s going to make sure he’s off center. His head is out of line and then he gets back into a better posture as he takes you down. Khabib was like that too. The stance isn’t right, but he’s doing it to keep his head off center and not in the line of fire, and he still has a great takedown from there.
“But now he’s going to do it with a southpaw fighter. So you dive in, you’ll be much more comfortable photographing. If someone pressures you and catches you off guard, or if your instinctive reaction is to shoot, most of the time you are shooting at orthodox fighters, your head will turn this way. Now you’re diving into Poirier’s powerful side because he’s southpaw: powerful side hooks, powerful side kicks, powerful side knees.
Volkanovski has fought Makhachev twice – losing a close decision at UFC 284, and then being knocked out in the rematch at UFC 294. He predicts Makhachev will eliminate Poirier.
“I think Islam is so good that it will be an end,” Volkanovski said. “I think it will be a finish.”
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 302.
