Dustin Poirier highlights one attribute Alexander Volkanovski will be at a disadvantage in title fight against Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski will headline UFC 284 next month in Perth, Australia. The newly-crowned lightweight champion will defend his title for the first time against the pound-for-pound king on foreign soil down under.
No.2-ranked lightweight contender Dustin Poirier weighed in on the fight between the two champions in an interview with BroBible. He highlighted the advantage that the Dagestani fighter held over his Australian counterpart.
Poirier said:
"I think Volk is gonna be a little undersized at 155 pounds but uh, he can still win it. He can still get it done, you know. He's beat some great 145-ers, you know, beat Max Holloway a few times. So we'll see but I think he's just going to be a little bit undersized compared to Islam. Islam's big, solid, strong, you know."
He maintained that Alexander Volkanovski is capable of a result and refused to write him off but stressed on the physical edge that Islam Makhachev held over 'Volk'.
'The Diamond' also mentioned the featherweight champion's impressive trio of wins against Max Holloway that cemented his position atop the featherweight division.
Poirier also addressed reports of him being the backup fighter for the UFC 284 main event. He did not rule out the possibility of stepping in in case of an emergency, but revealed that the UFC had not yet reached out to him in that regard.
Check out Dustin Poirier's full interview on YouTube:
Daniel Cormier believes Alexander Volkanovski will 'upset' Islam Makhachev
Islam Makhachev's former teammate Daniel Cormier weighed in on the big fight and stated that the lightweight was a clear favorite. However, 'DC' also made the surprising prediction that this fight will go Alexander Volkanovski's way.
Cormier said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel:
"There have been a number of upsets in mixed martial arts... In my opinion, Alexander Volkanovski wins this fight, it's the biggest. It's bigger than anything we've seen because, I'm telling you, when you get into the details of this matchup, it seems a very hard match for Volkanovski to win..."
The former double-champ termed the possible result as the biggest upset in MMA history:
"Volk is a very big guy... But that doesn't matter, he's still shorter. Because he's shorter it makes for him - Makhachev - to use the leverage against Volkanovski. I believe that this would be the biggest upset in mixed martial arts history."
Check out Daniel Cormier's full comments on YouTube: