Islam Makhachev wants to prove his striking skills with a KO of Alex Volkanovski, reveals who he wants to fight after UFC 284.
It will be Islam Makhachev (23-1 MMA) vs Alexander Volkanovski (25-1 MMA) in the lightweight main event on Saturday, February 11th at UFC 284. With the championship on the line the two fighters will battle it out in the Octagon for the ultimate prize.
Makhachev, 31, will be entering the cage sporting 11 wins in a row, his last coming against Charles Oliveira (33-9 MMA) in October of last year at UFC 280.
Volkanovski, 34, has an amazing 22 wins in a row, the most recent coming in July of last year at UFC 276 where he defeated Max Holloway (23-7 MMA) via unanimous decision.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi, MMA writer for @ESPNDeportes, took to ‘Twitter‘ with a video interview with Makhachev and the following tweet:
“Spoke with the Lightweight Champion, Islam Makhachev who wants a KO over Alex Volkanovski to prove his striking skills, prefers a fight against Beniel Dariush next and explains how Khabib Nurmagomedov is still helping with the fight plan for #UFC284”
In his own words, the Russian said:
“Honestly, I want to knock him out. Everybody says Islam is a grappler or wrestler. But I want to show people my striking. He’s a short guy, and I really believe I can knock him out.”
Continuing, Islam Makhachev said:
“This is not his area. I am from (another) division. This is not the same power. Not the same. He’s going to understand this.”
Makhachev will be making his first defense of the 155-pound title he earned by submitting Charles Oliveira last October. Volkanovski is moving up in weight after four featherweight title defences since winning the championship in 2019.