Dominant UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski shared his thoughts on how Charles Oliveira need to act in revenge with Islam Makhachev to achieve victory.
The lightweight title rematch will take place on October 21 at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
“When wrestling is your main weapon, when you work on it all your life, like Islam and Khabib, these are fighters of the Dagestan school. They have everything built on keeping the opponent in the stalls, not letting him do anything, discouraging him so that he gets lost. If you let them move where they want, then these guys will make you give up.
“It will be a tough fight for Oliveira. Charles will have to work hard to stay on his feet after Islam’s takedown attempts.
“Charles needs to apply pressure in order for him to have any chances for submissions. When Islam tries to grab him, the Dagestani’s neck will become vulnerable. And Oliveira also needs to work in the standup, where he can be better than Makhachev,” Volkanovski said in the latest release of the author’s YouTube channel.
Earlier, Alex Volkanovski rated the grappling level of Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira.
“If you look at the first fight, Islam won by submission, but many will correct me: “He shook him in the stand. And you look at the statistics of Oliveira’s finishes,” and they will say that Charles is better as a grappler. But you understand, there is pure jiu-jitsu, and there is grappling adapted for MMA. Who will be more successful in it?
“So, I think this is Islam. This guy is constantly trying to improve his position in battle, exhausting you physically at the same time. He also always see what’s going on and doesn’t let you do what you want. He’s always one step ahead.”
“That is why it is very difficult to catch such a fighter on pain submission. He constantly sees everything and tries to be one step ahead. As soon as you try to improve your position, he doesn’t let you do it. It’s on such little things that everything is built,” Volkanovski said.