UFC 290: Dana White makes historic call on Alex Volkanovski v Yair Rodriguez fight
UFC president Dana White has praised the success of Alexander Volkanovski, revealing he will make a stunning concession if he beats Yair Rodriguez this weekend.
Alex Volkanovski has been so dominant at featherweight that UFC president Dana White sees no problem with the Australian holding and defending the featherweight and lightweight world titles simultaneously.
That’s a concession the UFC boss has only ever made for Amanda Nunes, who successfully defended the bantamweight and featherweight belts at the same time.
Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo have all held titles in two divisions simultaneously, but didn’t defend both belts.
Volkanovski must first get through dangerous Mexican opponent Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 this weekend, but White was moved to change his stance after the 34-year-old’s impressive performance against Islam Makhachev in February.
“I normally don’t like guys as dominant as he is bouncing around weight classes, but he looked damn good in that last fight,” White said when asked about Volkanovski’s ambitions of becoming a simultaneous two-weight world champ.
“A lot of people thought he won the fight, I don’t have a problem with it.”
Volkanovski fell agonisingly short when he moved up to lightweight to fight Makhachev, but many MMA pundits – including Joe Rogan – felt he won the bout.
“If you look at what the media did, Jones was number one, (Volkanovski) is number two pound-for-pound, and Islam’s number three,” White said. “That goes to show what the media thought of that fight and of him. It was a damn close fight, a good fight.
“If you think about his style before the Islam fight, you think he’s going to have serious trouble with Islam. And that was not the case. It was very impressive, man.”
White’s statements make this weekend’s Las Vegas blockbuster even more critical, with Volkanovski intent on claiming the lightweight title in a rematch with Makhachev in October.
A loss at UFC 290 would throw those plans into disarray.
“I ain’t lying. I want to be active. I’m going to get that rematch, I’m going to get the second belt and I’m going to keep both divisions open, I promise you that,” he said.
“I have business to deal with this weekend, I’m taking him serious, but going forward, I’m going to be busy once I take that belt (from Makhachev).”
Volkanovski has been wearing a plaster on his cheek after getting cut at training on Monday evening (Las Vegas time). The featherweight champ played it down as “just a scratch” which he‘s keeping covered to avoid infection, and White wasn’t concerned it could jeopardise this weekend’s headline fight.
“No, cuts up around here (above the eye), then you have concerns, but down here, there’s no problem,” he said.
White has already labelled Volkanovski one of the “all-timers” at featherweight, but if the Wollongong local achieves his lofty two-division goal, he’ll be catapulted into the discussion as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
Volkanovski beat a murderer’s row of fighters to win the title, and has defeated every other man to hold the featherweight belt, bar one: McGregor.
McGregor is slated to fight Michael Chandler, but isn’t currently in the mandatory USADA drug testing pool. He can’t fight until he’s been in the testing pool for at least six months, but Volkanovski says a 2024 blockbuster against the Irishman is a possibility.
It could even happen at UFC 300, which could potentially be held at Las Vegas’ new Allegiant Stadium.
“I have Yair this weekend, and I’m taking him very seriously, but Conor is definitely something I’d want to do,” Volkanovski said. “I’ve got a few fights and a few things I’ve gotta do, but by then he’ll be in the testing pool.
“But, as I said, I’ve got Yair Rodriguez first, I’m going to take care of business, handle that and move on.”
THE MAJOR RODRIGUEZ THREAT VOLKANOVSKI MUST SHUT DOWN
A wild, long-range striking attack shapes as the most dangerous weapon Alex Volkanovski must nullify when he defends his featherweight world title against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 this weekend.
That’s the view of New Zealand lightweight star Dan Hooker, who has fought the interim champion Rodriguez and spent years training alongside Volkanovski.
Hooker, who will fight Jalin ‘The Tarantula’ Turner on the prelims in Las Vegas this weekend, broke down the headline fight, saying the rangy Rodriguez is a whirlwind of dangerously wild striking.
With a background in taekwondo, the Mexican incorporates roundhouse kicks, flying knees and elbows from distance, and has a series of highlight reel stoppages on his resume.
“Volk getting hit with something silly from long range, that’s the real threat,” Hooker told this masthead. “That’s like the only threat, if Volk’s standing a little too close and he gets hit with some mad s**t.”
That’s the same danger Rodriguez poses if the bout goes to the mat too.
“Yair’s style is the same on the feet as it is on the ground,” said Hooker, who dropped a decision to Rodriguez in 2015. “On the feet, it’s super long and dangerous.
“On the ground he’ll create long space as well and throw up-kicks and submissions.
“The same style and the same concept he applies to his striking he applies to his grappling.”
The key for Volkanovski is reducing the space Rodriguez has to operate.
“Yair’s striking and grappling both require range, but Volk is such a nugget, so space is not an option,” Hooker said. “He’s so good at suffocating you and taking the space away.
“His cardio and mental approach is just ridiculous.
“(Rolling with Volk), it’s like, ‘Bro, have a break, get lost, get off me’.”
Volkanovski flew in 11-time taekwondo world champion Carl van Roon and jiu-jitsu great Craig Jones to mimic Rodriguez’s unorthodox style, with Hooker saying the Aussie is too well-rounded and too well-prepared.
“The chance of Volk mitigating the distance, closing the range and getting hold of him is infinitely higher than the chance of Volk getting hit by something silly from long range,” he said.
“The chance of him getting caught with a jumping, flying, spinning, 360, heel-kick compared to Volk getting a double leg and beating from guard, I’d say the chances of Volk doing that are significantly higher.”
Volkanovski has proven himself to be one of the most-well rounded fighters in the entire UFC. He has out-wrestled a wrestler in Chad Mendes, he won the striking exchanges with kickboxer Max Holloway and is one of very few fighters to escape multiple grappling exchanges with jiu-jitsu wizard Brian Ortega.
The key to his preparedness is a brutal training session known as Spyda.
It involves one fighter fending off wrestling and take-down attacks from numerous teammates in a relentless shark-tank type of drill. Spyda routinely pushes fighters deeper than they have to dig in actual bouts, and it’s a staple of all of Volkanovski’s fight camps.
“If we touch gloves and I get kicked in the head, then I have to recover, and that’s what Spyda is for,” Hooker explains.
“So Volk has prepared for absolutely everything. Everything. Regardless of how the fight goes, you’ve prepared head to toe, you’re flexible and you’ve experienced absolutely every approach previously.”
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