Alexander Volkanovski breaks down the game plan for Max Holloway
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Max Holloway landed a record-breaking 447 strikes on Kattar and channeled his inner Muhammad Ali in that fight, the entire community appreciated his performance but his rival Alexander Volkanovski reminded him of their encounters.
Holloway lost both his fights against Alex and it is worth a thought why couldn’t he land such high volume of punches against him.
In a recent interview Alex disclosed in detail his game plan and how he avoided Holloway’s intensity. “To be honest, obviously, looking for a takedown was always going to be there, but it wasn’t something I was going to chase, There’s a whole standup game plan that we had to stick to. We knew he’s really good with his distance. And with that, we knew we’re going to pull up short up high.
“When he really pours the pressure on, he’s in your face so it seems like he’s there. But early on, especially when he sees the dangers and he’s really good at distance, touching and getting out of the way, avoiding punches and then giving you some countering.
“When he’s coming forward, he’s heavy on that leg when he wants to pour it on. The punches come up, we’ll pull them up a bit short. Alright, that’s not there? The legs are. Alright, let’s start smashing the legs. And not only that, that was always going to be the game plan because he likes to come forward and put the pressure on.
As he’s trying to jab, I’ll just stick one into his leg, let him realize he’s not going to get his rhythm. So the leg kicks were a big part of that.”
“A lot of people think the game plan is kicking his legs and think that was it. But it goes so much deeper than that,” Alexander Volkanovski explains the importance of leg kicks
Alex used a significant amount of leg kicks and he also explained the reason behind that, he said
“I’ll kick his legs and then he would try and fire right away. So as soon as I would kick, he was trying to stick a jab in my face when he realized he couldn’t get out of the way. Then I would let him run straight into a punch or kick, as he was trying to throw a jab, I’ll come with overhand rights and hooks.
“Then he started reading that after my kicks, I started firing so he started running into punches. So he went there, pretended he’d come in, make me fire and then go. Then I would change it up again because I realized he was baiting me after the kick.
These are little things that you wouldn’t see. A lot of people think the game plan is kicking his legs and think that was it. But it goes so much deeper than that.”
Also read “He seemed to be more bark than bite” – Michael Chandler speaks on comparisons with Ben Askren.
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Suryansh Thakur
(1600 Articles Published)