Even Islam Makhachev’s coach rules out ‘any kind of finish’ against P4P champ Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284
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Javier Mendez predicts the fight between Islam vs Alexander to be a war
Coach Javier Mendez has an interesting take on how the fight between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski will go down. Though he has the utmost confidence in his pupil, Mendez is not getting carried away by the possibility of a finish.
In a recent interview with Helen Yee Sports, Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez spoke about Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski and his student becoming a double champ. “So if you know anything about Islam, he trains like a professional, takes it serious like a professional. And I’m assuming you are going to see a better version than Charles Oliveira, which was spectacular, but you will see a better version,” said Javier Mendez.
“I don’t know if he’s the toughest I’m not sure…based on what’s at stake – Yes, he’s a tough opponent but is he really, I don’t know,” Mendez added when asked if Volkanovski is the toughest opponent Islam faces. “This is not a fight that is going to be a 5-round war like what everyone is thinking,” the coach predicted.
He also backed it by saying it wasn’t Islam’s takedowns that took Oliveira down, but it was punching. “He [Islam Makhachev] is going to become the pound-for-pound number 1 in UFC and even the world…..after he beats Alex of course”, Javier Mendez said as he backed the Dagestani fighter.
Alexander Volkanovski said he won’t panic if Islam Makhachev takes him down
Volkanovski recently went on Michael Bisping’s podcast, Believe You Me, to speak about his upcoming fight against Islam Makhachev. When asked about Islam’s takedowns he said he was “not going to panic”. Volkanovski is confident in his abilities to handle Makhachev on the ground.
Volkanovski famously defended against all of Brian Ortega’s submission attempts, not looking to tap even ONCE. So fans can agree with what he said, but not Islam. He took to Twitter and tweeted that Alex “would panic in 15 seconds” once he takes him down. Islam too has enough submissions to back this up as well.
When asked about this with Islam’s coach, Mendes said, “To be honest to defend against takedowns is to be relaxed, but can he be relaxed though?” He added that Islam is strong and compared him to Khabib’s strength, and said he Islam is stronger.
The outcome of the fight might be unpredictable but one can be sure that the fight is going to be absolute fireworks. Fans expect this fight to not go the distance. What are your predictions for this fight?
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Prateek Athanur
(2944 Articles Published)