People are sleeping on the number-one pound-for-pound fighter and Featherweight Champ Alexander Volkanovski this weekend. Islam Makhachev dominantly defeated Charles Oliviera at UFC 280 to claim the Lightweight Championship. Islam looks unstoppable and only has one loss in the UFC and it was very early in his career. Due to Islam's style of combat sambo, most believe that he probably won't lose to anyone let alone someone who typically fights ten pounds less. Yet, it seems Islam might have lost some focus since winning the belt. He has been seen on social media hanging out and training with the Nelk Boys. If you don't know who the Nelk Boys are, they are internet pranksters turned influencers. That said the few hours of training that Makhachev spent with them could have been spent actually training with his coaches.
Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski has been doubling his training, literally. A video of Volk's sparring has surfaced. Volk had to defend takedowns from the front and then as soon as he did a second sparring partner comes in from behind with zero time to breathe and Volk had to defend his back. It was basically a two-on-one assault that Volk was defending. If he can defend takedowns from two men, in theory, he should be able to defend takedowns from Islam, even though Makhachev is probably significantly better at grappling than Volk's sparring partners. However, Volk spars with Israel Adesanya, the former Middleweight Champion. This could be a major factor in why Volk is unbeaten in the UFC. He trains with a guy who is ten inches taller and weighs forty more pounds than him. Not only is Adesanya a size nightmare for Volk, but he is one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. That being said Volk is used to being in the octagon with a major size disadvantage. The transition to Lightweight may be easier than expected for the pound-for-pound king. On the other hand, even if Islam has "lost focus" he is still a beast of a competitor and this weekend is going to be historic in Perth.
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