UFC 333 - What Does Alexander Volkanovski Need to do to Retain Gold?
UFC 333's headliner, Alexander Volkanovski is no stranger to a fight - We look at what he needs to do to retain gold in Abu Dhabi.
Alexander Volkanovski is no stranger to a puzzle to solve. Whether it's taking on Islam Makhachev on a few weeks' notice, fighting Max Holloway three times, or fighting out of a guillotine against Brian Ortega, 'The Great' has given us some memorable moments throughout his career.
He looks to do something that no one has ever done before: defeat Movsar Evloev. We look at some of the things that he needs to do to achieve that.
UFC 333 - Alexander Volkanovski's Keys to Victory
Switch Stance
Something that made Alexander Volkanovski so successful in his first fight with Islam Makhachev is that he constantly switched stances. This forced the Russian to constantly adjust and meant that he couldn't make a simple read on Volk. It allowed the featherweight king to avoid a lot of Makhachev's takedowns in the initial instance.
We know that the Australian's footwork is amongst some of the best in the UFC and he needs to utilise that footwork and stance switching to frustrate and confuse Evloev.
Offensively Wrestle
What's important is that the UFC 333 main event is that it's a mixed martial arts fight. Although on paper we have a wrestler vs striker, both men are extremely well rounded.
People forget how good of a wrestler the champion is. He's more than capable of taking Evloev down and controlling him on the ground. He utilised a well timed leg sweep against Makhachev but wasn't able to make it count.
Against Aljamain Sterling, Evloev was taken down six times. It's worth noting that this was against a former bantamweight in Sterling.
Even if he doesn't actively wrestle, he has to threaten the takedown and keep Evloev thinking and second guessing his commitment to shots.
Punish Evloev After Failed Takedowns
What we know about Evloev is that he strings together takedowns well. If he fails on his first attempt, he'll chain takedown attempts together and look to ground his opponent by any means necessary. In the brief moments in which Evloev abandons his first attempt before trying his second, Volkanovski must either explode and avoid the position or must punish Evloev.
Hammer fists to the thigh, foot stomps, shoulder strikes will all soften up the Russian. More significant strikes like knees and elbows in the clinch will deter Evloev in resting in the position and force him to work.
We know that Volkanovski can work for the full 25 minutes and although Evloev has gone 25 minutes, he's never been in there with Alexander The Great before...
