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Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski tips:
Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski will step inside the Octagon for the second time at UFC 294 on Saturday night at the Etihad Arena in the United Arab Emirates.
Makhachev and Volkanovski first came to blows at UFC 284 in Australia back in February, with the former triumphing by unanimous decision in a classic bout.
Makhachev is the heavy favourite with UK bookmakers to back up that victory and extend his current winning run to 12 fights.
The Russian had been due to face Charles Oliveira for a second time in Abu Dhabi this weekend, only for the UFC lightweight championship challenger to suffer an injury in training, forcing him to pull out.
Instead of Makhachev vs Oliveira part two, Volkanovski has stepped in at 11 days' notice for his own shot at redemption.
The Australian only has two losses on his record and despite a lack of preparation time, he showed in the first fight that he can be a match for Makhachev.
Makhachev won’t make the same mistakes
Makhachev might have taken home the win and his lightweight championship at the expense of Volkanovski earlier in the year, but saw his reputation take something of a hit.
With UFC great and fellow Dagestani Khabib Nurmagomedov part of his coaching stable, expectations of the 31-year-old are high, but his first bout with Volkanovski showed he can be got at.
‘Alexander The Great’, who stepped up from featherweight for that bout, landed more strikes than his opponent and even knocked the champion down, catching him off guard with a switch to southpaw.
Makhachev would eventually get the measure of the Aussie and deserved the win via decision, but still had to go the distance to improve to 24-1 in his career.
Makhachev should know what to expect from Volkanovski this time and avoid falling into the same traps laid by the man from down under in their original bout.
Volkanovski asked to do the impossible
It’s extremely tough to get the better of Makhachev – a KO defeat to Adriano Martins in 2015 remains the only loss of his career – and doing so on short notice will be even harder.
But the Volkanovski at least comes into this bout off the back of a victory having stopped Yair Rodríguez back in July.
That was the 13th success by stoppage of his 28-fight career and it would seem his best chance of beating Makhachev would be to stay on his feet and exchange, avoiding taking the fight to the mat at all costs.
Volkanovski didn’t have much success trying to grapple Makhachev originally, failing with four takedown attempts, and his lack of conditioning leaves him at a disadvantage should the fight become a technical affair.
Makhachev had been preparing for an opponent that favours striking in Oliveira anyway so the late alteration is unlikely to have ruined his gameplan.
Factor in that UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski recently underwent surgery on his left arm and the deck is really stacked against him.
It would be understandable were Makhachev an even shorter price than the 2/5 BetGoodwin are offering and we’re backing the Russian to do the business once more.
Tip: Islam Makhachev to win - 2/5 with BetGoodwin
Challenger not in it for the long haul
Volkanovski has admitted he’s unlikely to have the fitness needed for a repeat of his five-round epic with Makhachev and will be looking to finish the rematch early.
Throwing caution to the wind against such a dangerous opponent is unlikely to end well for the challenger and it would be a shock to see this fight go the distance.
Makhachev may not have much knockout potential but he does have 11 wins via submission on his record, including forcing Oliveira to tap out.
During his current winning run, only two of the Russian’s 12 fights have gone beyond the third round and we’re backing this one to finish ahead of schedule too.
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Last Updated: 14th March 2024, 07:22 AM
