Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski are a true example of iron sharpening iron.
Adesanya gets set to defend his middleweight title against Jared Cannonier in the UFC 276 headliner taking place July 2 in Las Vegas.
The co-main event, meanwhile, sees Volkanovski defend his featherweight title in a trilogy fight with former champion and rival Max Holloway.
With plenty of other great fights, it’s a pretty stacked card to say the least.
#UFC276 is STACKED! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/CNogdL4K4K
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) May 8, 2022
Israel Adesanya Spars With Alexander Volkanovski
Of course, one benefit for both Adesanya and Volkanovski is that they are teammates at City Kickboxing.
With both of them considered to be among the pound-for-pound best fighters on the planet, it only helps them further to train and spar together.
Although Volkanovski is only 5’6″, he started off as a middleweight in MMA, but shed pounds and eventually found his way to featherweight.
Fans can now get a small glimpse of how their sparring sessions go thanks to a recent upload. While Adesanya is nearly a foot and a half taller and has a nine-inch reach advantage on Volkanovski, ‘The Great’ still made efficient use of his inside strength.
You can watch it below:
While one would assume Adesanya’s size advantage would give him the upper hand, that’s not exactly the case either.
“Izzy, Israel Adesanya said himself that I’m half his size and when we’re sparring, he realizes this guy is pressuring me, getting me on the backfoot,” Volkanovski said in an interview last year. “‘Wait a minute, this guy is half my size, I can’t let that happen.’ So he stands his ground. Before he knows it, he’s on the backfoot worrying about what I’m doing.
“… That’s something that you don’t understand until I’m standing in front of you.”
What did you think of Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski’s sparring session from whatever little you saw?
