This Saturday’s UFC 284 main event is a rare match-up between the number one and number two ranked pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC.
It’s all but unprecedented, at least in recent years (the UFC introduced their rankings system in 2013), with Alexander Volkanovski sitting at #1, and Islam Makhachev at #2. It will be Makhachev defending his lightweight title, however, as Australia’s Volkanovski, the promotion’s 145lb champ, moves up in weight for the fight.
Does Makhachev deserve his ranking, having yet to defend his title? Volkanovski noted that in the end, it’s not up to the fighters.
“This isn’t up to us. People are gonna ask me, if you go and take him out, are you going to be the greatest ever and all that? That’s not up to us,” Volkanovski said during this week’s UFC 284 media day. “Do I think I had a harder path to pound-for-pound and all that? Yeah. Look at my resume. Do I believe he’s as good as the number one pound-for-pound, or number two pound-for-pound? Yeah, for sure. I believe he definitely deserves to be up here. He’s a great fighter.”
Volkanovski (25-1) remains undefeated in the UFC. He’s defeated Max Holloway three times, while also picking up wins over The Korean Zombie, Brian Ortega, Jose Aldo, and Chad Mendes, among others.
Looking at Makhachev’s resume, added Volkanovski, “it’s probably not as good or as deep as some of ours, but at the same time when it comes to skill, he’s definitely right up there.”
There’s an idea that Islam Makhachev does nothing wrong in his fights, putting on clean if less than flashy performances. It’s something Michael Chandler, a former Bellator champ and UFC title challenger, suggested recently.
“He doesn’t take unnecessary risks. That’s the proper way of doing it,” observed Vokanovksi in response to that breakdown. “They’re calculated in that sense.” While some suggest his striking is underrated, and others beg to differ, “it is calculated. That’s something he does very well. He doesn’t over-commit too much, he does sometimes, but he will fight on the back foot and wait for the the right time to shoot and things like that. His distance game isn’t too bad. So little things like that, he does well.”
Speaking of being calculated, Makhachev’s suggestion that he can knock out Volkanovski doesn’t qualify. Which had the featherweight champ dismissing the idea.
“Him coming and looking for a knockout, that’s an unnecessary risk. He won’t be doing that.”
Watch the full UFC 284 media day appearance by Alexander Volkanovski above.
