Eugene Bareman admits he couldn’t get himself to observe Alexander Volkanovski vs. Islam Makhachev 2 at UFC 294.
Bareman was unable to nook Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) for his title-fight rematch in opposition to light-weight champion Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) this previous October.
After virtually beating Makhachev of their first battle at UFC 284, featherweight champion Volkanovski stepped in on brief discover for his or her rematch. Bareman was in opposition to the thought, and didn’t even watch the battle when it occurred.
“From a aggressive standpoint, I informed him, ‘Overlook it,’” Bareman stated in an interview with “She Loves The Gloves.” “Sure, in fact, we as a group will do our greatest to make use of this time and get you as ready as one will be on every week’s discover. Realistically, we don’t have a lot of an opportunity. But when the UFC affords you, say, this, this, or this – positive, give it some thought and possibly we are able to determine one thing out.
“I’ll watch the tape and design the sport plan that might give us the most effective probability of getting the win. And in order that’s what occurred. The UFC got here again with provide and he agreed. However I didn’t even have the time to get to Abu Dhabi and nook him. All of it occurred so quick, I had prior commitments that I couldn’t simply cancel. I didn’t even watch the battle – I used to be too afraid of what may occur.”
Bareman’s worst worry occurred. Volkanovski was knocked out by Makhachev within the first spherical.
“I had a sense it may very well be one thing like this,” Bareman stated. “I clearly didn’t need to be proper, however sadly, I used to be. As soon as once more, in numerous circumstances, I actually consider that even on a brief discover the outcome might have been completely different. However in fact, we now have to additionally give credit score to Islam. His abilities are excellent and he deserved that win.”
Volkanovski defends his featherweight title in opposition to Ilia Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) within the UFC 298 predominant occasion Feb. 17 at Honda Middle in Anaheim, Calif.
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