UFC 294: 4 Ways Alexander Volkanovski Can Upset Islam Makhachev, Become Champ-Champ

This Saturday, in the main event of UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will get a second crack at Islam Makhachev's lightweight title.

Australia's Volkanovski first met the Russian Makhachev in February, losing a contentious decision in one of the best fights of the year so far.

Volkanovski has called for a rematch ever since, and in the end, was offered that opportunity on just 10 days' notice when Makhachev's original opponent for UFC 294, Charles Oliveira, was forced off the card.

Beating Makhachev is extremely difficult under the best of circumstances. The 5'6" Volkanovski, who is much smaller than the 5'10" lightweight champ, learned that the hard way in February, after a full camp dedicated to preparing for the task. Beating the Russian with less than two weeks to prepare will be all the more challenging—but it's not impossible.

Volkanovski is considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on earth for a reason, and if he employs the right strategy this Saturday, he can avenge his February loss to Makhachev and claim a second belt in the process.

Keep scrolling for a few ways the Australian can become a two-division champion this Saturday.

Heading into Makhachev and Volkanovski's first fight, the widespread perception was that the former would have a big advantage on the ground, and the latter would have the edge on the feet. Neither of those sentiments proved to be particularly accurate, as Volkanovski had some of his best moments of the fight on the mat and was actually hurt by Makhachev on the feet early in the fight.

Despite Makhachev's early striking success the first time out, there's no question that Volkanovski is still the more polished striker—particularly in terms of boxing. He also has plenty of stopping power, even if he is not known for clean, one-punch KOs.

You can see where we're going with this.

Ordinarily, Volkanovski employs complex, layered game plans to beat his opponents. We're not suggesting that he breaks from that kind of advanced strategizing long term, but sometimes the best solution is the simplest one, and that may be true here.

Given the short time he has had to prepare, there is plenty of reason to doubt he has the cardio to go five rounds. Therefore, he might be better served to walk Makhachev down and swing for the fences in pursuit of an early KO.

It would certainly catch the Russian by surprise.

Volkanovski does pretty much everything well. One of his best weapons is his calf kick.

Calf kicks are a fairly new addition to the MMA arsenal, and they've become very popular because they're difficult to block. Volkanovski throws them as well as anybody and has used them with great effect in the past, most notably in his first victory over featherweight great Max Holloway—the win that earned him the belt.

Part of the reason Volkanovski leaned on the calf kick against Holloway is that they're a good counter to the jab, which is of course a favorite weapon among fighters with long reach like Holloway and, as luck would have it, Makhachev.

Makhachev is not the most elegant striker, but he has a good jab, and he uses it often. This will expose him to Volkanovski's calf kicks. These kicks don't generally do a ton of damage in small doses but can completely change the complexion of a fight when they're thrown in succession. The more Volkanovski chops at Makhachev's legs, the less power the Russian will be able to generate on the feet, and the less thrust he'll have on his takedown attempts.

It's unlikely the kicks will stop the fight, but they could open the door to other big offensive opportunities for the well-rounded featherweight champ.

As we covered above, Volkanovski is not known for his one-punch knockouts. While he definitely has some power in his hands, he prefers to launch extended, high-volume attacks that break his foes down over time rather than all at once.

This strategy has served him well in almost all of his fights, including his first matchup with Makhachev, during which he out-landed the Russian 70-57 in terms of significant strikes.

Volkanovski might be a bit choosier with his striking output this time around, as his conditioning will be a bigger concern than usual under these short-notice circumstances. Still, there is no question that it's in his best interest to hit Makhachev as often as possible.

That doesn't just mean on the feet. Volkanovski also needs to stay busy on the mat, not only to wear Makhachev down, but also to show the judges that, even if he is taken down, even if he's in bottom position, he's still doing damage.

Makhachev was supposed to have a pronounced grappling advantage in his first meeting with Volkanovski, but the Australian ultimately showed he is absolutely world-class in this department himself.

While Volkanovski surrendered four takedown attempts in the fight, he denied five of them, and when he did hit the mat, he was able to hit several slick scrambles. He used those scrambles to take top position more than once, which allowed him to rack up 2:55 of control time to Makhachev's 7:37.

Not bad for a guy who didn't hit a single takedown of his own in the fight.

Heading into UFC 294, it's fair to assume Volkanovski will once again have a difficult time getting takedowns of his own, and a difficult time stopping all of Makhachev's attempts. Yet the first fight showed it almost doesn't matter. His scrambles were good enough that being taken down didn't always turn out to be a bad thing, and if he leans more heavily on that part of his game in this rematch, he could have even more success on the mat against the lightweight champ.