Days away from the anticipated UFC 302 PPV in Newark, fans and fighters have begun revealing their picks for Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier and Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa winner. As such, former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski recently revealed his picks.
Volkanovski is one of the greatest minds in MMA, evidenced by his status as the ex-pound-for-pound king. As he previewed the co-main event fight between Costa and Strickland, the former featherweight champion stated the American was at an advantage over the Brazilian.
He’s very powerful. Paulo Costa, everything comes from where it’s meant to be…But this is something that Sean Strickland’s very good at. You throw very good, fundamentally sound power shots. This is stuff that Sean Strickland does in so many rounds. He loves doing live rounds with people who are going to swing heavy at him, using very tidy boxing and kickboxing techniques. He’s sort of ready for them. He spars more than he trains almost, so he knows little things that he can do in real-life situations.
Alexander Volkanovski via his YouTube channel
Alexander Volkanovski insinuates that Strickland’s sparring sessions would help him maneuver around the power shot from Costa. He stated Costa throws predictable combinations, which fighters who spar a lot, like Strickland, can see a mile away.
In the main event, Volkanovski stated that Islam Makhachev had a huge advantage over Dustin Poirier. Volkanovski even said he didn’t see anybody beating Makhachev anytime soon. Volkanovski is 0-2 against the Russian champion and thus knows a thing or two about Makhachev.
Stephen Thompson previews Paulo Costa vs. Sean Strickland
Paulo Costa vs. Sean Strickland, the UFC 302 co-main event, is a fight of contrasting styles and personalities. Both have a huge following on social media. Strickland’s conservative views often resonate with the right-leaning demographic, while Costa built a following through his hilarious trolls.
Stephen Thompson (Image via: IMAGO)Stephen Thompson, a two-time title challenger at welterweight and the consensus NMF, recently previewed Costa vs. Strickland on his YouTube channel. As Costa vs. Strickland would likely be a clash of contrasting strikers, Thompson is the right man to preview the fight as he is a credentialled striker, especially in kickboxing.
If [Sean] Strickland can get in his face and make him cover up, make him feel uncomfortable, land his strikes, and especially use those front kicks like he did against Izzy [Israel Adesanya], I think he can tire him out and come out with that win. Now, Paulo Costa is a very explosive and powerful person. If he can do what he did against Luke Rockhold, beat this guy with straight powerful techniques, and mix up the grappling a little bit, I think he can win that fight as well.
Stephen Thompson via YouTube
The fight between Costa and Strickland almost didn’t come to fruition, as the UFC offered a low purse for the latter. However, they patched up, and news broke out that Costa had not signed the contract. Nonetheless, the fight is now ready to go.
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