The current UFC Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and the Featherweight Interim champion Yair Rodriguez are going at it and the UFC universe cannot wait. After suffering a loss at the hands of UFC Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, Volkanovski is all set to win again and this time, the threat is Yair Rodriguez, the interim champion.

Volkanovski, who came very close to securing a win over Makhachev, is already being hailed as one of the best P4P fighters in the promotion, and for good reason. However, to seal the deal Volkanovski needs to overcome this last challenge which is the Lightweight Interim Champ Yair Rodriguez.

Real Night of Champions – Alexander Volkanovski’s game plan

With every fight, comes a pre-fight procedure, and if the opponent is a peerless fighter like Yair Rodriguez, then the pre-fight procedure requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears – not to mention the help of other professionals to work on all your weaknesses and turn them into strengths.

Alexander Volkanovski has been training with the 11-time Karate and Taekwon-Do Champion Carl Van Roon to help him anticipate and adapt to the fight style of Rodriguez, to hold his nefarious leg kicks at bay. 

The UFC Featherweight champ uploaded an interview video on his YouTube channel where he described exactly how he was preparing to fight Yair Rodriguez. “Having Carl V was uh… it was awesome. Obviously, very important to this camp; with Yair Rodriguez… just there that range… obviously that first up… the variety of kicks and the understanding of the game… just having him there to just really mix it all up and just give me unpredictable but very effective looks.”. 

Explaining the importance of training with a distinguished fighter such as Carl Van Roon, Volkanovski continued by saying, “So there’s people that can just throw things just for the sake of it. But he understands why, when… when is a good time to do them and things like that. So getting someone who really has that knowledge and the capability of actually doing that in the… in amongst… you know me putting pressure on and all that type of stuff or [inaudible] forward, me fighting that range – its crucial. Especially for this camp.”

Alexander Volkanovski’s journey to the title and his most ‘dangerous’ opponent so far

The one decision that Volkanovski took that proved to be counter-productive was moving up to the Lightweight division and facing the protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev. However, he found something close to redemption when he secured his last win over the exceptional Max Holloway, further solidifying his name as one of the greatest in his division.

However, Yair Rodriguez will bring a world of pain. His barrage of kicks, unless checked early on, could very well cost the Featherweight champion the match. In a recent interview with FREESTYLEBENDER on YouTube, Volkanovski admitted to the fact that Yair Rodriguez and his unpredictable fight and striking style make him even more dangerous a fighter for him than Islam Makhachev. However, training with an 11-time world champion like Carl Van Roon will definitely help him work on his kicking and how to check kicks.

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The two are all set to face off at UFC 290, which will be held on 9 July at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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