“He wants to fight regularly” Alexander Volkanovski reveals who he would like to face Charles Oliveira over Islam Makhachev at UFC 280
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(left) Oliveira and (right) Volkanovski
Alexander Volkanovski, the current backup fighter for UFC 280’s main event between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev clearly has favourites with regard to who he wishes to face. The #1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter revealed who he truly wishes to face at UFC 280.
Playing clear favourites he revealed he would like to face Oliveira for the title and his reasoning is more than sound. “I’ll be honest and I’ll say, Charles. I think Charles will be the better opponent, people say stylistically, yeah but obviously there’s a lot of hype around Charles, you know what I mean? Everyone considers him the champ, “ said Volk as he revealed that beating Oliveira would certainly make him the lightweight champion in the eyes of the public, while beating Makhachev may not legitimize him completely.
“I’m still gonna have to beat Charles, you know you face Charles it’s a bigger fight cause he’s got a lot of hype on him”, said Volk. He then went on to talk about how he would also prefer that Oliveira wins at 280 so that they could face each other down the line, having immense respect for the Brazilian for staying active.
“When I look at it as a competitor that wants to fight, active you know I think that’s Charles as well cause I know Charles wants to fight very regularly, he wants to be active as well which,I respect that a lot”, said Volk as he revealed he would even be willing to face Charles in January, a card Oliveira himself has shown interest in headlining.
Alexander Volkanovski gives his honest thoughts on a fight against Islam Makhachev
Volkanovski does however acknowledge the fact that his current style is hugely favourable for a fight against Oliveira but that he’d definitely need some polishing to face Makhachev.
“Maybe Islam, I need to train, like right now, I need to bring wrestling coaches just so I’m ready for the takedown defense”, saying he needs to train to be prepared for a ” Couple of rounds against a strong wrestler”
Volkanovski also suggested that to face Makhachev he may have to mix up his camp to polish out every aspect of his game, particularly his takedown defences. “With Charles, I think my style, works really well with him, my style works really well with Islam but I just need more work in a few departments, ” said the featherweight champion on the prospect of facing Makhachev.
Who would you want Volkanovski to face next weekend if the backup fighter is needed?
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Jerin Mathew
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