Why Alex Volkanovski should be worried ahead of Islam Makhachev rematch

Islam Makhachev has made one major change ahead of his rematch with Alex Volkanovski that has his team very confident of defending the lightweight title.

Islam Makhachev believes he has an ace up his sleeve ahead of his rematch with Alex Volkanovski. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Islam Makhachev has a not-so-secret weapon heading into his UFC 294 rematch against Alex Volkanovski this weekend.

He goes by the name Khabib Nurmagomedov.

One of the best to ever set foot in the Octagon, the 29-0 retired former lightweight champion, and pound-for-pound No.1 one fighter in the world, has been leading Makhachev’s gruelling 100-day training camp.

It is a drastic change in preparation for lightweight champ Makhachev after Nurmagomedov was absent from preparations before his first fight against Volkanovski at UFC 284 in February.

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Volkanovski nearly pulled off an all-time upset to become a two-weight world champion but this time around Makhachev has been preparing closely with his mentor, coach and “big brother” Nurmagomedov.

Those close to him say his wrestling has gone to another level.

“I’ve never seen anyone dominate people the way Khabib does,” Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez said.

“Islam’s the only person in sparring who’s won rounds against Khabib. Ever. No one ever won rounds off him but Islam has.

“Khabib’s mindset is: ‘How can they be ready to fight the best in the world if they can’t go with me’.

“That’s why I feel very confident about this rematch.”

Islam Makhachev (L) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (R). Picture: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Volkanovski has played down the impact Khabib will have and said Makhachev was using Khabib’s absence as an excuse.

“When it doesn’t go your way, you start looking for things,” Volkanovski said. “If those things are going to worry you so much, I’m going to take advantage of that.

“If he can’t deal with things like that when he’s locked in a cage with me, he’s going to be in for a rude shock.”

Rasslin’

Most experts were surprised that Volkanovski had so much success wrestling Makhachev in their first encounter.

However, Volk’s team was more surprised at Makhachev.

“We were prepared for Islam to manhandle Alex a lot more,” Volkanovski’s longtime head coach Joe Lopez said.

“He wasn’t manhandling him the way I thought he would and when I asked Alex if he was strong, he said, ‘He’s not that strong’, so I chucked the game plan out the window.

“Our whole emphasis was not to engage in the grapple but when we changed you could see the difference.”

Volkanovski had more success late in his first fight with Makhachev. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Being proactive, even from defensive positions, was the key to Volkanovski’s success.

“He did a really good job of scrambling and even though Islam got a take-down, we were able to mitigate the first part of that take-down,” Volkanovski’s wrestling coach Frank Hickman said.

“It’s about getting up to the cage, staying solid, keeping his legs out and getting back to our feet.

“We can stop many of the take-downs and we can even turn some of them into our offence and get to a position where he can feel dominant.

“Most people just want to stop it but you can’t just accept it. You have to wrestle through these positions.”

Volkanovski said he would be more aggressive in the rematch, and Lopez said it was a direct result of the lessons learned from UFC 284.

“We played from a distance because we didn’t want to engage in the grapple,” Lopez said. “But then we found a lot of success in that middle ground rather than at range.

“So without giving away too much, we’ll be changing a few things up.”

Volkanovski’s coach, Joe Lopez. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Zuffa LLC

Get in his head

One of the great wrestlers in UFC history said Volkanovski had a left-field path to victory.

Former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who will fight Khamzat Chimaev on short notice this weekend, said Makhachev would be too big and too strong for Volkanovski but he saw something in their first fight that could again be effective.

“He did a great job when he started talking to Islam,” Usman said. “Get in his head and get him to steer away from his game plan of control and taking you down and using that wrestling and grappling.

“So I would say talk to him off the rip. Just start calling him names as soon as the ref says ‘are you ready’. I would be talking to him right away, trying to get him off that game.”

Kamaru Usman (R) is one of the greatest welterweights of all time. Picture: Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire

Volkanovski admitted he employed the tactic against Makhachev eight months ago.

“When he’s in control, these other guys have no answer,” Volkanovski said. “I had the answers and he was trying things – and he was doing a very good job – but I was still able to get out and I was laughing and having a joke about it.

“He’s used to breaking people and watching people crumble, so when he sees that I’m not crumbling, he starts thinking, ‘Shit, this guy isn’t going anywhere’, and it starts to play on his mind.”

Lopez has different memories of the trash talk.

“I look at it the other way,” Lopez said. “Alex got taken down and caught in a few stupid things because he was mouthing off.

“We’ve gone over those things but that crowd was electric and intense, and Alex was doing things he’s never done and shouldn’t have done because he was excited.

“This time the crowd will be against us, so it’s probably a better thing for us to stay focused and disciplined.”

Originally published as Why Alex Volkanovski should be worried ahead of Islam Makhachev rematch