Joe Lopez, the head trainer of Alexander Volkanovski, is confident that his student will successfully defend his title at UFC 290.
Joe Lopez sees Alexander Volkanovski dominating Yair Rodriguez on the ground.
Volkanovski (25-2 MMA, 12-1 UFC) will attempt to unify his featherweight belt with interim champ Yair Rodriguez (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the UFC 290 headliner on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In the main event of UFC 290, Alexander Volkanovski returns to the featherweight division to take on Yair Rodriguez.
“The Great” recently fought at 155lbs, where he lost a decision to Islam Makhachev for the lightweight belt. Volkanovski is the heavy favorite at UFC 290 and despite saying Rodriguez is the most dangerous opponent he has ever fought, the Aussie’s coach believes Volkanovski will literally knock Rodriguez down .
Easy fight for Alexander Volkanovski?
“100% I don’t think he’s ever met anyone as strong as Alex and I think that always surprises people. If Alex gets his hands on him, he’s really going to piss him off,” Lopez told The AllStar of Alexander Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez.
“It’s just about getting into the fight because he’s likely to throw a knee or an elbow and we really worked on that clinch game to avoid any damage trying to get into the fight. »
The only time Yair Rodriguez got run over by an opponent was in his first career UFC loss to Frankie Edgar. In that fight, Rodriguez was ground controlled for over eight minutes and was ultimately knocked out by TKO.
Although the Mexican has since improved, Joe Lopez knows the quality of Alexander Volkanovski’s grappling and believes his pupil will be able to replicate Edgar’s performance.
If Alexander Volkanovski manages to put Yair Rodriguez down as his coach claims, it will be a resounding victory. The Aussie is undefeated at featherweight in the UFC and overall in his career. “The Great” hopes an impressive victory over Rodriguez could secure him a rematch against Islam Makhachev. If he doesn’t get that rematch, Volkanovski still has options at 145lbs, like Ilia Topuria, who picked up a big win over Josh Emmett last weekend.
