LAS VEGAS – Alexander Volkanovski acknowledges the stiff test he has in front of him Saturday night.
He greatly respects his UFC 245 opponent, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway. There’s no question. But just because Volkanovski (20-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) views Holloway (21-4 MMA, 17-4 UFC) as a difficult task, doesn’t mean he sees him as his most challenging stylistic matchup to date.
At a UFC 245 media day held Thursday, Volkanovski told MMA Junkie he believes his most recent fight against Jose Aldo in May was probably a trickier matchup than Holloway, stylistically-speaking.
“I’ve always been confident,” Volkanovski said. “But them last couple of fights really did boost my confidence even more… To completely change my type of style just to adapt to a fighter (against) one of the greatest of all time. I was able to do that and get it done. That just really proved to me that we’re on another level.
“That just made me be like, ‘Man.’ I reckon stylistically, usually you would say that was a harder fight for me than even Max, when you look stylistically. But I mean, Max is a great champion.”
It is seemingly undeniable Holloway is a great champion. He’s defended his 145-pound strap three times, in largely dominant fashion, against Jose Aldo, Brian Ortega, and most recently Frankie Edgar.
Holloway has won 14 of his most recent 15 outings entering UFC 245, a stretch dating back to January 2014. Holloway’s lone loss came at lightweight by decision against former interim champ Dustin Poirier. So how does Volkanovski plan on beating Holloway on fight night?
“Obviously with my last one, I had to play it a little more safe and I had to work around things,” Volkanovski said. “With this fight, I don’t. He’s going to put himself in positions where he needs to try and break me, right? He needs to work his game. He’s going to try to land is jabs on the outside. He might do what he did with Frankie, but I’m not going to be so easy.
“… We’re both going to try to break each other’s rhythm, but at the same time we’re both not going to let each other take a backwards step. If we’re going backward, we’re doing it on purpose… Mate, you’re going to see fireworks. Again, he’s going to put himself in positions where he thinks he can maybe get a hand ahead, but he’s going to run into a brick wall.”
UFC 245 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
