“It’s a Very Hard Way to Compete When…” – Alexander Volkanovski’s ‘Competitive Advantage’ Over Islam Makhachev Revealed by UFC Legend

Alexander Volkanovski has an overlooked weapon, against his upcoming foe, Islam Makhachev. The two are set to face each other at RAC Arena, Perth in Australia for UFC 284 event. However, crowds are flocking toward Makhachev in support. Especially after his impressive lightweight championship victory against Charles Oliveira. However, this sudden surge in fans could be a double-edged sword for the fighter. Furthermore, despite being the current P4P no.1 on UFC’s rankings, why are fans eager to discredit Volkanovski’s chances against Makhachev?

Alexander Volkanovski might be the ‘David’ in this encounter

UFC veteran Chael Sonnen discussed the untold advantage Volkanovski has, over his opponent for the lightweight championship title, in a recent YouTube video. Sonnen explained the problem with people’s expectations, in relation to UFC fighters, and said, “it’s a very hard way to compete when the expectations are so high.” ‘The American Gangster’ continued, “on Fight Night you know what it’s like to be the favorite? It’s not great…Not great.”

But, UFC fans favor Makhachev, because he holds the advantage in height and muscle. Also, many fans don’t trust the Australian native to cut it in the higher divisions of the competition.

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But Sonnen reminded that this underdog element works in his favor. The UFC legend stated, “it is a competitive advantage for the fact that all pressure has been taken off of him.”

Likewise, it disadvantages his opponent as “it is a competitive disadvantage that Islam isn’t allowed to lose a single round.”

Therefore, Sonnen concluded “you’re putting Volk in a better (position).” for his face-off against Makhachev.

Chael Sonnen believes the world is against ‘The Great’

After losing Khabib Nurmagomedov as a mentor due to his MMA retirement, Makhachev gets another disappointing news from Chael Sonnen. However, his fans are heavily backing his chances to bag the P4P men’s title.

Sonnen narrated an incident, “Ryan asked me ‘is Volk the most underrated guy?’ and he tells me ‘it’s not possible because he’s ranked number one” and concluded “that number does mean something but there’s another number and DraftKings has it and it’s three to one. And it’s against Volkanovski.” to explain the scales in terms of betting odds.

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Do you think ‘The Great’ can come out on top, because of this advantage at UFC 284?