Israel Adesanya admits where he falls short in training sessions with Alexander Volkanovski
Israel Adesanya recently dissected the UFC 284 main event between Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev.
Many believe that Makhachev's overwhelming style of grappling will be too much for Volkanovski to deal with. However, Adesanya admitted that even he was unable to hold Volkanovski down in training during grappling exchanges, despite his enormous frame and severe weight advantage.
The lightweight champion has both a size and strength advantage over 'The Great.' Volkanovski has spoken about how he feels Makhachev is slightly dismissive of the Australian's chances of competing on the ground during interviews ahead of the bout.
But 'The Last Stylebender' has cautioned Makhachev not to underestimate Volkanovski. Israel Adesanya broke the fight down in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel FREESTYLEBENDER and said:
"Even [Volkanovski] said they were looking at him like, 'Where is this small boy'. I'm like, 'Y'all don't know. You. Don't. Know." [Volkanovski] used to be how many kilograms? I think over one hundred, so walking around carrying that weight, you have a different kind of muscle. Like I can't hold Volk down [in training]. I'm not a great wrestler, but even for my size I know how to keep people down. But he finds a way up, always finds a way up."
Watch the video below:
Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski train at the same gym, the renowned City Kickboxing gym in New Zealand, at various times during the year. 'The Last Stylebender' trains at CKB full-time, but Volkanovski splits his time between CKB and Freestyle MMA in Australia.
Watch a video of Adesanya and Volkanovski sparring against one another at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand:
Note: the video is two years old.
Israel Adesanya believes Islam Makhachev could start to "panic shoot" against Alexander Volkanovski
Israel Adesanya recently broke down the UFC 284 main event between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.
Makhachev's grappling prowess has often paralyzed his opponent's striking ability in the past, as they are fearful of the Dagestani's ability to take the fight to the ground. The lightweight champion has stated he is confident that Volkanovski will not be able to contend with him on the ground. However, Adesanya has stated otherwise.
'The Last Stylebender' believes that Volkanovski may force Makhachev to begin "panic shooting" once he realizes he cannot hold 'The Great' down. During a recent interview with Oscar Willis of TheMacLife, Israel Adesanya said:
"Islam's striking, he's able to do things recklessly because he's so good at keeping people down. But when Alex gets up and is peppering him, Islam will try and take him down again, maybe get him down. Alex gets back up, then [Islam] is like, 'Ah f**k I can't keep him down.' They start to panic strike or panic shoot."
Watch the interview below: