Final Combating Championship (UFC) Featherweight rivals Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway will collide as soon as extra this weekend (Sat., July 2, 2022) at UFC 276 inside T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tales of Volkanovski and Holloway are without end intertwined. The 2 greatest 145-pound fighters of their period, the pair have fought twice and produced a pair of extremely shut contests. Most would agree with the judges who awarded Volkanovski the victory of their first assembly, however a equally excessive share of viewers consider Holloway did sufficient to even the rating final trip.
Holloway, meanwhile, insists he won both Volkanovski fights.
No matter your private scorecard, that is but once more an awesome match up between two undeniably nice Featherweights. Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at the keys to victory for every man:
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BLOCKBUSTER CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLEHEADER! Final Combating Championship (UFC) Worldwide Battle Week returns to T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., July 2, 2022, capped by a stacked card headlined by a blockbuster championship double header. In UFC 276’s pay-per-view (PPV) predominant occasion, reigning Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, defends his crown towards No. 2-ranked contender, Jared Cannonier. Within the co-main occasion, Featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, has his sights set on efficiently defending his title as soon as once more towards No. 1-seeded contender, Max Holloway, for the third (and certain closing) time.
Alexander Volkanovski
Report: 23-1
Key Wins: Max Holloway (UFC 251, UFC 245), Brian Ortega (UFC 266), Jose Aldo (UFC 237), Chad Mendes (UFC 232), Chan Sung Jung (UFC 273), Darren Elkins (UFC Battle Night time 133)
Key Losses: None
Keys to Victory: Volkanovski is a fully brutal mixture of intelligence and athleticism, a mixture bolstered additional by uncooked aggressive drive. He normally wins fights by bodily mauling opponents together with his wrestling or dancing at distance and displaying off the depth of his arise.
Volkanovski actually does all of it at an elite stage.
Provided that these two have spent 50 minutes contained in the cage battling each other, I’m uncertain that I’ve any revelations the 2 haven’t discovered themselves. For Volkanovski, the important thing has all the time been and can all the time be to restrict Holloway’s quantity. The Hawaiian is known for his capability to interrupt punch stats, however Volkanovski makes it unattainable for Holloway to function at his regular tempo on the energy of his foot work, low kicks, and counter punches.
Final trip, Volkanovski bumped into a number of uppercuts as he tried to flurry ahead. If there’s one adjustment to make, focusing a bit extra taking an angle earlier than bursting ahead might assist him keep away from that blow.
Max Holloway
Report: 23-6
Key Wins: Jose Aldo (UFC 218, UFC 212), Calvin Kattar (UFC Battle Island 7), Yair Rodriguez (UFC Vegas 42), Frankie Edgar (UFC 240), Brian Ortega (UFC 231) Anthony Pettis (UFC 206), Ricardo Lamas (UFC 199), Cub Swanson (UFC on FOX 15)
Key Losses: Alexander Volkanovski (UFC 251, UFC 245), Dustin Poirier (UFC 236, UFC 143), Conor McGregor (UFC Battle Night time 26), Dennis Bermudez (UFC 160)
Keys to Victory: Holloway is among the greats. A technical kickboxer with an infinite gasoline tank and iron chin, Holloway fights can snowball like few others as soon as he finds a bonus.
Holloway’s efficiency within the second battle was an enormous enchancment from the primary. He was capable of counter Volkanovski way more successfully largely as a result of he stored up with Volkanovski at distance. Primarily, Holloway kicked extra typically, forcing Volkanovski to take the initiative extra and put himself in danger quite than dangle again and construct a lead.
Because the battle wore on, Holloway slowed a bit from Volkanovski’s low kicks, which turned the tide. To cleanly defeat the champion, Holloway clearly can’t afford to decelerate from harm within the latter half of the battle. Subsequently, checking kicks ought to be a better precedence than ever earlier than, as a result of answering again and countering simply wasn’t sufficient final time. He could have to regulate his stance a bit to maintain a lighter lead leg, but when that enables him to remain cell for 5 rounds, it’s value it.
Backside Line
There’s no assure that that is the final time these two battle.
Holloway has been working to regain his title for nearly two years now. There’s so much on the road for “Blessed” exterior of the belt, nonetheless. Specifically, Holloway needs to stake his declare as the very best Featherweight of the period, and that’s tough to do if Volkanovski holds three victories over him. If Holloway had been to come back up quick, a transfer to Light-weight shouldn’t be a shock.
Volkanovski has additionally been concentrating on a leap to 155 kilos for fairly a while. Not like Holloway, his odds of shifting to Light-weight appear extra seemingly with a victory (even Dana White agrees). One other title protection creates a robust argument for Volkanovski’s desired title shot a weight class up, although there are nonetheless Featherweight contenders like Josh Emmett nonetheless attempting to get a bit of the Aussie.
If he loses right here, anticipate a fourth battle before later.
At UFC 276, Volkanovski and Holloway will battle for MAYBE the ultimate time. Which man will depart the cage strapped with gold?
Keep in mind that MMAmania.com will ship LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow protection of all the UFC 276 battle card proper here, beginning with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches on-line, that are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard steadiness on ABC/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, earlier than the PPV predominant card begin time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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