Alexander Volkanovski is arguably the best fighter we’ve ever seen. Between his domination of the Featherweight division since taking the title (including giving Max Holloway an absolute shellacking) and taking Islam Makhachev to a controversial decision, he appears to improve in each subsequent outing. For Volkanovski, a win in the main event of UFC 290 allows him to place a foot firmly in the contest for the greatest Featherweight of all time and extend his title run to the age of 35; a rarity for the smaller weight classes.
However, Yair Rodriguez presents a unique challenge in his athleticism and unique, unpredictable style which makes him particularly tricky to gameplan for. After a shellacking of his own against Josh Emmett, Rodriguez has claimed the Interim Featherweight title and now seeks the real thing. A far cry from the meme fighter he once was, Rodriguez utilises his athleticism and wildness to kick his opponents to pieces. With a win this weekend, Rodriguez will look to usurp the current 145-pound king and hail himself as the dawning of a new generation in Featherweight.
Alexander Volkanovski’s Keys To Victory: Feints, Jabs and Distance Control
Combatting Rodriguez’s style on the feet is by and large the hardest hurdle Volkanovski has ahead of him. As a man who gameplans thoroughly, it’s particularly tricky to take away the weapons of an opponent whose best asset is his unpredictability.
Even so, Volkanovski’s use of feints could serve him very well in this bout. As a constant feinter whether with his hands, feet or his movement, Volkanovski would do well to keep showing Rodriguez all of these. If the Australian can keep Rodriguez swinging at shadows, he should provoke these large explosive movements that Rodriguez is known for. In doing this, he should be able to throw Rodriguez out of position and either land strikes of his own or find entries to wrestle as Rodriguez. Volkanovski’s ability to enter and exit range masterfully should be in full swing, either staying outside of kicking range or quickly closing into boxing range with double jabs, head movement, footwork and feints.
On that note, keeping Rodriguez frozen with jabs could nullify a large portion of his committed offence. When he finds Rodriguez out of position whether due to big wind-ups, misses, stance switches or what have you, Volkanovski should commit to landing his killer jab. Keeping Rodriguez jabbed up would potentially stop him from working a large portion of his game and allow an entry for Volkanovski to land his right hand. In particular, right hooks would be nice to see as Rodriguez often dips out heavily to his right with his hands low if caught in the pocket. It would also be interesting to see Volkanovski kicking back at the legs of Rodriguez given his propensity to being out of position. If Volkanovski can deaden the legs of Rodriguez he can greatly reduce the danger of Yair’s kicking game.
Back To Form: Wrestling Against Rodriguez
Yair Rodriguez, whilst dangerous on the ground as showcased by a submission win in his previous bout, is very wrestle-able. Indeed, this was one of Max Holloway’s keys to victory in his own bout with Yair, holding him and hitting him on the ground for a significant portion of the bout. It would be silly for Volkanovski not to take full advantage of this as a strong wrestler with vicious ground and pound of his own. If Volkanovski can sit in the guard of Brian Ortega and pummel him to what might have been a TKO if not for some questionable officiating, it’s hard not to have confidence he can do the same in the guard of Rodriguez.
However, it would be even better if Volkanovski can get around the guard entirely. Mounting Rodriguez or finding himself in another position where Rodriguez struggles to get his legs involved such as side-control or half guard nullifies his upkicks, elbows and submission offence. Without control of his hips to explode upwards, Rodriguez would be far less potent off his back and thus at the mercy of Volkanovski’s hammers from above. In getting Rodriguez down, Volkanovski could look once again to the times that Yair is out of position, whether it be on one leg, switching stances or making a mess of his footwork. A well-timed shot, trip or clinch throw will send Rodriguez to his back at the best of times and from there the minutes should be Volkanovski’s to lose. Volkanovski can also exploit Yair’s kicks by catching them, bundling Yair over and stigmatising his best weapons.
Yair Rodriguez’s Keys To Victory: Low Kicks, High Kicks and Everything Inbetween
It’s a point that has been touched on already in this piece, but Rodriguez’s kicking game is his most successful. Everybody and their mother has already pointed out Volkanovski’s tendency to eat high kicks as he exits. Whilst Volkanovski is sure to have prepared for this weapon extensively, it’s still one worth using and one of Rodriguez’s best. Likewise, Yair’s body kicks should go well towards ensuring that he isn’t overwhelmed by the near-endless cardio of Volkanovski whilst also setting up the kicks upstairs. In the event that Volkanovski can block these kicks, he’ll still be taking them on his arms. In the pocket, Rodriguez should exploit his love of elbows to the utmost degree given a relatively sloppy punching form.
A weapon that has gained less traction in the run-up to this bout is Rodriguez’s low kicks. These, like his other round kicks, have a particularly venomous snap to them and went a long way to making his fight with Max Holloway competitive. Josh Emmett, too, had fits after taking several of these kicks, reacting at every hip turn and step in that Rodriguez made. Volkanovski has taken low kicks unchecked in several bouts now and whilst it hasn’t seemed to hamper him in any major way yet, that by no means indicates that it won’t. For what it’s worth, this is the weapon that I find most interesting for Rodriguez. If he can batter Volkanovski’s legs then the Australian’s world-class movement will start to come undone and he will find himself that much more hittable.
Closing Thoughts
It’s hard to overstate just how great a fight this is. In a world where Alexander Volkanovski looks damn near unstoppable, especially at Featherweight, Rodriguez poses genuinely fascinating questions. Whilst Rodriguez has the perfect weapons to upset him, it’s up to Volkanovski to gameplan and pull out all of the stops in order to overcome this new challenge at Featherweight.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
