- Islam Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez thinks Alexander Volkanovski will come forward the entire fight at UFC 294
- Mendez revealed his take on the short notice change of opponent and explained why it doesn’t faze Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez discussed what he thinks Alexander Volkanovski will come up with at UFC 294. He also opened up about his honest thoughts on the short notice change of opponent and why they don’t really care whoever the UFC put in front of them.
Volk will be coming in all night
Speaking to Submission Radio, Mendez acknowledged the fact that Volkanovski never got intimidated by Makhachev during the first match. In the rematch, Mendez is expecting “The Great” to be aggressive the entire fight, especially on the feet.
“He’s going to do more, he’s going to take chances, he’s going to take more chances [than] the last time. He’s not going to be worried about the takedowns because you know he’s obviously survived the ground last time and he also did his best work on the ground not in the standup so he’s not going to be afraid of anything and that’s the one thing I feel he’s going to do is he’s going to come, he’s not going to be too cautious, he’s just going to come because he feels he can handle whatever Islam has to throw but we’ll see I mean you can feel whatever you want to feel but when you’re in there you know it’s not what I think, it’s not what you think, it’s not what anybody thinks, it’s what these two are going to do and can they handle it? I’m saying yes but you know, who knows,” Mendez assessed.
Islam’s team deserves credit too
The MMA community heaped praised on Volkanovski for taking such a huge fight on an 11-day notice. But while Mendez also recognize it, he pointed out that Makhachev’s team also deserved some credit as not all fighters carry on when their opponent gets replaced.
“I kind of knew it was Alex and kudos to them for stepping up on a short notice you know and also give us credit too because normally, people, when you have such a tough opponent, they won’t take it, they’ll back out. Jon Jones, when Vitor Belfor got injured, Chael Sonnen was the replacement and they completely turned that fight down, they had to reschedule the whole thing,” Mendez explained.
“Khabib has his guys trained properly. If you’re the champion, it doesn’t matter who’s in front of you,” he added. “… We gotta give us credit for taking the fight on short notice, like I said, a lot of people wouldn’t do it so it’s not like oh he’s doing this, we are too so it’s even. We’re even, we’re both taking a fight you know. We’re both even on this so to me, I don’t give them any more credit than I give us credit for taking the fight.”
Islam could change his game even in the last minute
Mendez also made it clear that a short notice change is not a big thing for Makhachev and his team. According to the legendary coach, Makhachev is so versatile that he could change up his game plan even when it’s only minutes before the actual fight.
“At the end of the day, we may end up having to fight him, who cares? Whatever. Bring him on, it doesn’t matter you know Islam’s ready to fight anybody,” Mendez exclaimed. “You guys remember, I’ve always said Islam changes directions just like against Moises, we were out walking out and then we change the game plan as we’re walking out. Well, that’s cuz Islam’s that good so as long as he’s in shape, he’s healthy and he wants to fight, it doesn’t matter. We can change it. We can change it round to round, minute to minute you know we can do anything we want with him because he will listen and he will execute.”
UFC 294 will be the much-awaited rematch between Makhachev and Volkanovski. Heading into the fight, Makhachev already noted that he expects to be given a shot at becoming a double champ just like what the UFC did with Volk.
Check out the full interview below:
