Max Holloway wants everyone to put some serious respect on “Old Man Volk’s” name. Seriously, he’s basically calling out every fan who’s sleeping on Alexander Volkanovski ahead of Saturday’s UFC 333 main event, making his official prediction that the current champ is going to get his hand raised against Movsar Evloev. Holloway, who’s been in the cage with Volkanovski three times, is siding with his former opponent.
“Old Man Volk” Is a Different Animal, Period.
Holloway laid it all out on his YouTube channel, saying that with Volkanovski just being Volkanovski, this is a great matchup for him. He thinks Volk’s biggest concern lately has been taking damage, not what most people are hyping up. He’s talking about Movsar’s wrestling, which apparently “blows his mind” how much people focus on it. Holloway reminded everyone that Volkanovski wrestled Islam Makhachev twice, and it’s like everyone forgot about the first fight because they’re so focused on the second one. That means Volkanovski was grappling with one of the best 155-pound wrestlers in the world. Yeah, Movsar is a beast, 20-0, but Holloway is convinced Alex Volkanovski is just a different animal. He really thinks fans are sleeping on Volk, still too high on Movsar’s wrestling, forgetting what Alex did to Islam in that first fight.
It’s All About the Damage, Not the Takedowns
The biggest concern for Volkanovski, according to Holloway, isn’t some huge wrestling gap, it’s straight-up damage. Movsar has power, dude. We’ve seen him jab someone and drop them with it. So, does Alex have to worry about Movsar’s damage? Yes. Is Alex gonna play into that? Probably not. Holloway thinks Alex is just too smart. He’s going to keep his distance, jab, jab, jab. And if he decides to wrestle, Holloway doesn’t see Alex doing it early. He thinks Alex might even make a point to go and wrestle in the middle rounds just to prove, “Yeah, I can grapple with this dude, too.” Holloway sees this as a great matchup for Volk, predicting he’ll go out there, land a ton for 25 minutes, and get his hand raised in a decision. It’s going to be a great one, and Holloway says the world is finally going to put some more respect on Volkanovski’s name.
Just for the record, Holloway has fought Volkanovski three times and lost all three. He’s never faced Evloev, though. UFC 333 goes down Saturday at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, and you can catch all the action streaming on Paramount+. Don’t sleep on this one, folks.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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