UFC 284 is just a few days away and there is a lot of buzz generated about the PPV show. The show will feature two of the best fighters of the Pound-for-Pound (PFP) rankings with Alexander Vokanovski and Islam Makhachev in the main event.
Back at UFC 280, when Makhachev thrashed Charles Oliveira to win the UFC Lightweight Title, he immediately expressed his desire to reach the top of the UFC PFP rankings. And in the after-match interview of the event itself, he challenged the current Featherweight champion Volkanovski, who is also at the top of the PFP rankings.
Talking about Volkanovski, he is no ordinary champion. With an unblemished UFC career recently passing six years in duration, Volkanovski has performed really well in his past few fights and that will place him alongside the best and greatest to ever compete. Furthermore, he continued to improve rapidly and clearly separated himself from the rest of the featherweight elites. But, this isn’t a routine title defense at his natural weight class.
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Even though Makhachev was only inaugurated as the official top dog at 155 pounds three months ago, he has been seen by many as the heir apparent to the throne Khabib Nurmagomedov left vacant upon his retirement in October 2020. Seeing the spotless record of Khabib followed soon after by Islam’s mostly unencumbered climb to the top of the division has understandably convinced many that he has forged an unbeatable class of fighters. After his retirement, Khabib started coaching and can be seen every time in Makhachev’s corner during the fight.
The big-picture of the fight seems to be clear, if Volkanovski somehow manages to consistently stave off the offensive wrestling of Makhachev in a way that allows him to work his normal outside kickboxing game, he will have a sizable advantage on the feet. However, at first glance it’s hard to imagine a significantly smaller Volkanovski executing this, especially considering how suffocating Makhachev has proven to be on top, making the margin for error very small for the featherweight champ. Meanwhile, the much-anticipated announcement of Conor McGregor’s return has grabbed all the momentary attention.
