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Alexander Volkanovski sees Max Holloway overwhelming Conor McGregor at UFC 329.
Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC) welcomes McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) back from a five-year long layoff in Saturday's welterweight main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+). The pair will run things back after McGregor won their first outing in 2013.
McGregor is known to storm out of the gate and lure his opponents in to match his aggression, before landing the counter shot. Volkanovski pointed to Holloway's UFC 300 win over Justin Gaethje as an example of how he needs to approach McGregor.
"Each fight through my fights with Max, you started to see a lot more footwork, a lot more kicks involved, spin kicks, was able to jab, fight at a great range, create good angles, and just piece him up on the outside," Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. "This is the type of style that he's going to need for someone like Conor – a good long range, not fall for the traps.
"Maybe a jab, pull, pulling himself out of range, off center, for these big, hard counters that Conor will still have. But, can he zap the life out of Conor pretty quickly? One hundred percent. Can he rely on that volume striking to do so like he used to? No. I think that could lose him the fight. But the fighter that Max is today, I think he's going to be safe enough to not get hit too much."
Despite McGregor's time away, UFC featherweight champion still sees him possessing dangerous power early.
"People think that Max is just going to walk for him from the start," Volkanovski said. "It ain't going to be that easy. He's going to give problems early, and I think Max is going to give him that respect and not let him land them big shots. ... Max is going to be clever enough where we won't really see that.
"But I still think Conor will be dangerous enough where we're going to be like, 'Oh sh*t.' Max needs to be careful, but I think he's going to do the right things to make them adjustments, stay out of the big danger, maybe when he gets hit, not running into them big shots as much, which he could survive those big shots from Conor, and then he's just going to eventually have his way."
Volkanovski ultimately sees McGregor fading, and Holloway taking over.
"I'm going to have to go Max Holloway for the win," Volkanovski said. "Can it be a finish? One hundred percent. If Max gets you tired, he's so good at going in for the kill. And yeah, he's even getting much better in the pocket. Justin Gaethje, firing bombs, you know what I mean? Still being able to dodge the punches amongst that sort of brawl. I think it's just going to be too much for Conor, and you're going to just see Max get his hand raised, maybe get a finish.
"Can he hurt him, get him to the ground and then maybe get a submission? You could maybe see that as well. When people crumble and get really tired, there's always a submission there. Gamble responsibly, but there's probably good, good coin for a submission over a TKO. If you wanted a sneaky bet that could be something because he will melt him, and when he's melted and just shooting because he's so tired, is a submission going to be the way to go when he turns over and just gives the back? Maybe we see that."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alexander Volkanovski: Max Holloway will eventually 'melt' Conor McGregor
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Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC) welcomes McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) back from a five-year long layoff in Saturday's welterweight main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+). The pair will run things back after McGregor won their first outing in 2013.
McGregor is known to storm out of the gate and lure his opponents in to match his aggression, before landing the counter shot. Volkanovski pointed to Holloway's UFC 300 win over Justin Gaethje as an example of how he needs to approach McGregor.
"Each fight through my fights with Max, you started to see a lot more footwork, a lot more kicks involved, spin kicks, was able to jab, fight at a great range, create good angles, and just piece him up on the outside," Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. "This is the type of style that he's going to need for someone like Conor – a good long range, not fall for the traps.
"Maybe a jab, pull, pulling himself out of range, off center, for these big, hard counters that Conor will still have. But, can he zap the life out of Conor pretty quickly? One hundred percent. Can he rely on that volume striking to do so like he used to? No. I think that could lose him the fight. But the fighter that Max is today, I think he's going to be safe enough to not get hit too much."
Despite McGregor's time away, UFC featherweight champion still sees him possessing dangerous power early.
"People think that Max is just going to walk for him from the start," Volkanovski said. "It ain't going to be that easy. He's going to give problems early, and I think Max is going to give him that respect and not let him land them big shots. ... Max is going to be clever enough where we won't really see that.
"But I still think Conor will be dangerous enough where we're going to be like, 'Oh sh*t.' Max needs to be careful, but I think he's going to do the right things to make them adjustments, stay out of the big danger, maybe when he gets hit, not running into them big shots as much, which he could survive those big shots from Conor, and then he's just going to eventually have his way."
Volkanovski ultimately sees McGregor fading, and Holloway taking over.
"I'm going to have to go Max Holloway for the win," Volkanovski said. "Can it be a finish? One hundred percent. If Max gets you tired, he's so good at going in for the kill. And yeah, he's even getting much better in the pocket. Justin Gaethje, firing bombs, you know what I mean? Still being able to dodge the punches amongst that sort of brawl. I think it's just going to be too much for Conor, and you're going to just see Max get his hand raised, maybe get a finish.
"Can he hurt him, get him to the ground and then maybe get a submission? You could maybe see that as well. When people crumble and get really tired, there's always a submission there. Gamble responsibly, but there's probably good, good coin for a submission over a TKO. If you wanted a sneaky bet that could be something because he will melt him, and when he's melted and just shooting because he's so tired, is a submission going to be the way to go when he turns over and just gives the back? Maybe we see that."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alexander Volkanovski: Max Holloway will eventually 'melt' Conor McGregor
Continue reading...
