UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has explained where Diego Lopes went wrong in their UFC 325 rematch.
Earlier this month, Alexander Volkanovski was able to successfully retain the UFC featherweight championship when he defeated Diego Lopes for the second time. It was a comprehensive victory for ‘The Great’, and now, he will likely await the winner of the upcoming Lerone Murphy vs Movsar Evloev fight at UFC London.
Many felt as if Lopes struggled to make any positive adjustments in the rematch, which was frustrating to watch for a lot of fans, given that they didn’t feel like he should have received another shot at Volkanovski in the first place.
In a recent interview, Volkanovski opened up on what may have gone wrong for Lopes during the UFC 325 main event.
Volkanovski reflects on Lopes rematch
“During camp, we were thinking surely his team were gonna be like, ‘Oh, we need to learn to cut off. We’re gonna cut him off going this way,’” Volkanovski told Demetrious Johnson in an interview on his YouTube channel. “He has to at least do that, right? But I was even saying leading up, I go, I don’t know, even just cutting off – some people, yeah, you’ll cut him off, but some people can do it wrong.
“Like if he cuts off too close, I can just run him into big shots. Let’s see what he does anyway. But obviously, we’re prepared to go the other way. We’ll be prepared to go both ways if we have to. I wasn’t thinking that I’d able to go one way the whole time. I thought he would do a better job of, no matter which way I went, probably, eventually cutting me off.”
“I didn’t have to take too much risks,” Volkanovski said. “I would just keep turning until he wanted to do something, and I’d make him pay. He’s good, but maybe he just needs that little bit more IQ or footwork, and get a better understanding. That’s why that quick turnaround, it was always going to be difficult for him. That’s why when people were like, ‘Oh, he’s going to cut off.’ Yeah, but is he going to do it properly?”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
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