Why Alex Volkanovski’s limited preparation could actually be a positive
Alex Volkanovski is one of only a few athletes on the planet who could prepare for a lightweight title fight on just 11 days’ notice. Here’s why it could work in his favour.
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Despite taking the fight on just 11 days’ notice, Alex Volkanovski’s limited fight camp could actually be a benefit as he prepares to fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
That’s according to Volkanovski’s dietitian, Jordan Sullivan, who says Volkanovski’s phenomenal work ethic and natural body composition will negate some of the downsides of taking the short-notice fight at a heavier weight class.
Volkanovski was a late-notice call-up after Charles Oliviera pulled out with injury last week.
The fight will be a rematch of their lightweight title epic in February, when Volkanovski lost a hotly contested decision.
This time around, although he’s barely had time to prepare, the UFC featherweight champ might actually be in even better condition.
“Every week we do this testing for baseline power and explosiveness, and we use that to see how he’s tracking,” Sullivan told this masthead.
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“Last week, Alex threw up better numbers than he did for all of the camp for the last Islam fight.
“Last time, because he was training so much, there was a huge energy gap.
“The weird benefit of this short camp is that he hasn’t been burning the candle at both ends.
“He’s still been eating really good, but his body isn’t completely worn out from being in camp. He hasn’t been in that deficit and he’s coming in extremely strong, because he hasn’t burnt his body out.
“Volk is crazy, because he’s actually coming in stronger.”
Sullivan says Volkanovski is one of only a handful of fighters on the planet who could pull of something like this.
“He’s always training, it’s not like he’s coming off the couch,” he said.
“He’s a 365 day fighter and he eats relatively clean too.
“He was coming off the back of a holiday, but he still trains. A lot of fighters don’t have a good out of training camp training – they’re just not in shape.
“Volk is just always in shape, in camp and out of camp. He’s one of the only guys that does that. Ninety nine per cent of other fighters wouldn’t be in a position to take this fight.”
The Windang local’s high muscle mass will also be a huge factor when it comes to cutting weight this week.
When he received the call to replace Oliviera, Volkanovski weighed around 180 pounds, leaving 30 pounds, or roughly 13kg to shed.
Thanks to his already good metabolism, he immediately dropped up to four kilograms in the first couple of days by increased training and a slightly altered diet
In the last few days before weighing in, Volkanovski will shed the final couple of pounds by removing excess water from his body.
“When you’ve got high muscle mass, when it comes to fight week, that’s what you’re relying on,” Sullivan said.
“Your muscles hold a lot of water, so if you’ve got higher muscle mass, that means you can rely on doing a bit more weight in the actual fight week itself.
“Whereas guys who have higher body fat can’t do that. They have to diet more aggressively, and that takes away from performance.
“But because Volk’s got really high muscle mass for the division, he doesn’t have to drop too much body fat, and we drop more water in fight week.
“Plus, Volk is one of the sweatiest humans on the planet, so we can rely on that night before in the sauna too.”
Volkanovski will be eating well by the time he lands in Abu Dhabi. The days of fighters eating steamed chicken and boiled veggies is well and truly in the past.
“On a typical day, he’ll have eggs, avocado and a fruit bowl for breakfast,” Sullivan said. “We’ll probably get him a Greek yoghurt parfait with berries for a snack.
“For lunch, we’ll have steak and potatoes, and pre-workout we’ll get some carbs from watermelon, berries.
“He loves his chicken wings, so I can’t take those out.
“Because he’s not cutting to featherweight, we’ll have some complex carbs, like white potatoes for a bit of energy.”
Originally published as Why Alex Volkanovski’s limited preparation could actually be a positive
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