Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier are fighting this June and everyone has sent out their predictions. As such, former featherweight title holder, Alexander Volkanovski gave his two cents on the showdown too. However, he had something interesting to say about Poirier’s chances against the Dagestani champion.
Alexander Volkanovski recently sat down to talk about Dustin Poirier vs. Islam Makhachev on his YouTube channel. During his discussion, the former featherweight champion talked about how Makhachev is not easily beatable.
I think Islam’s going to be too good. I think he’s too safe of a fighter to make mistakes where he’s going to get caught against someone like Dustin Poirier. Dustin Poirier is a great fighter. I just think it’s just a hard fight, a hard fight for anybody.
Alexander Volkanovski on his YouTube channel
Volkanovski said he does not see anyone beating Islam for a while unless they catch him with a shot. Talking about himself, the former 145lb division champion said anyone has a puncher’s chance. Anyone may catch anybody with a well-timed shot that the other person did not see coming. That was the only way he ever saw himself going down. Volkanovski’s only three losses in the UFC came by knockout and one unanimous decision, against the lightweight champion himself.
The former interim champion and the reigning lightweight champion will fight it out this June at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Poirier is the clear underdog going into this fight. He has previously mentioned moving on from fighting to other things. Therefore, UFC 302 could be the final battleground for ‘The Diamond’ to fight for the lightweight title.
The one advantage Dustin Poirier has going into UFC 302 against Islam Makhachev
There are more right-handed people in the world than there are left-handed people. In the world of fighting it means that more people fight from an orthodox stance than a southpaw stance. ‘The Great’ said that this could be an advantage for Poirier going into the fight.
Dustin Poirier might have one advantage over Islam Makhachev (Image via Imago)Volkanovksi talked about it during his recent UFC 302 breakdown video. He pointed out the lack of southpaw opponents to train with when taking about someone like Dustin Poirier.
Southpaw vs. Southpaw. We know southpaw in training, in fighting, majority of the time, you are fighting orthodox fighters.You are going to be a lot more comfortable fighting orthodox fighters. That’s because the rounds you’re doing, the time on the mat is spent usually going to be with orthodox fighters. They’re just more of them.
Alexander Volkanovski on his YouTube channel
The former 145lb champion said Makhachev could fall for old habits while fighting Poirier. The Dagestani champion might instinctively expose himself to ‘The Diamond’s strikes, which would be bad news for the lightweight champion. It will be interesting to see how this fight goes down this June at UFC 302.
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