Alexander Volkanovski's coach Eugene Bareman explains why Max Holloway keeps him "on his toes"
Eugene Bareman believes Max Holloway is one of the most elite fighters in the UFC right now. Bareman, the head trainer to reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, has claimed that the prospect of going up against Holloway keeps him on his toes.
Bareman said that it requires a lot of brainstorming to come up with a plan to keep the Hawaiian subdued inside the octagon. However, given that Volkanovski is 2-0 up against 'Blessed', Bareman knows that the Australian could win their upcoming trilogy fight. However, he admits it's going to be a tough battle.
THE TRILOGY IS ON
Alex Volkanovski vs Max Holloway 3
UFC 276 | July 2 https://t.co/7N12uhPGvH
During a recent interaction with It's Time For Sports, the City Kickboxing head coach stated:
"Max puts me on my toes. It makes me and my coaches try and find another level. We try and find another level, we're trying to find something, we're trying to search for something that's so difficult to find with fighters that are the one percent of the one percent if you know what I mean. They're the one of the one percent, the fighters like Max, the fighters like Volkanovski. I'm sure it's [not] an easy task for his team as well but yeah, it's just hard grinding work for us."
Watch the interview below:
Cornerman reveals what motivates Alexander Volkanovski most ahead of Max Holloway trilogy fight
Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski will share the octagon for a third time in the co-main event of the upcoming UFC 276 pay-per-view on July 2. The featherweight title will be hanging in the balance.
Volkanovski wants to settle the debate on who is the best featherweight between him and Holloway once and for all at the T-Mobile Arena. 'The Great' is already 2-0 up against 'Blessed' but there was controversy surrounding his win in the rematch. Several fans and analysts suggested Max Holloway should've been announced the winner instead.
"You can't leave it to these guys. We've got some bad judging."
@danawhite on the scoring and result of Volkanovski-Holloway at #UFC251 https://t.co/NWXljsh7bp
According to his cornerman Frank Hickman, Volkanovski's motivation heading into this fight is to prove to people that he is without a doubt a better fighter than his Hawaiian counterpart. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Hickman said:
"Like Volk said, this fight excites him, because people still say Holloway’s a great, great fighter, and that he’s better than Alex. So that gets Alex up in the morning, that gets him motivated, gets him going. He’s excited and looking forward to the challenge."