City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman, who trains UFC champions Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya, is eyeing a move up to lightweight for his featherweight champion. Volkanovski is set to take on Max Holloway for the third time, after which he may well attempt to repeat Conor McGregor’s feat attain the lightweight belt in addition to his featherweight strap.
The lightweight division is brimming with talent, but the biggest worry – to Bareman, at least – is the recently deposed champ, Charles Oliveira, not any of the surging lightweight finishers like Islam Makhachev. He elaborated on Submission Radio.
Bareman: Oliveira “More Difficult” for Volk than Islam Makhachev
“Definitely Oliveira’s the more difficult match in my opinion. Again, it just depends. Oliveira has a more well-rounded skillset, so there’s more to deal with.
I mean, Islam’s got good stand-up, but that just depends on who you are looking in, I guess. But yeah, I just think Oliveira would be a more well-rounded skill set for Volk to deal with. Whereas Islam, perhaps we could narrow a couple of things down and concentrate on those few things.
Which is easier said than done, because just like in much the fashion of Khabib, Islam excels. He may only do one or two aspects of the sport really, really well, but he does them at the highest level. So, that’s the difficulty.”
Islam Makhachev is best known as the protege to former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov retired undefeated with a 29-0 record, and has long touted Makhachev as a future champion. Alexander Volkanovski’s prospects aside, how does Bareman see the lightweight landscape?
“Should Islam be the next person that challenges for the title? You know, he probably does deserve it, but whether he’s getting that title shot is another thing. It’s another question, you know.
Like, the UFC is a business and it’s a business of making fans sell tickets to watch fights, and Islam doesn’t have the most crowd-pleasing style. So his road to the title is just to keep winning and winning and winning and eventually you just can’t deny him.”
Moving up to a heavier weight division won’t be a problem for Volkanovski, who Bareman says can impose his will on middleweights and heavyweights with fifty pounds on him.
“Every single person, doesn’t matter who you are, what experience you have, he grabs you, and you feel something different. It’s a different feeling from anything that I’ve ever felt from someone of that stature, and I think the lightweight guys still feel that. Look, I got middleweights and light heavyweights that feel it.
They’re like, ‘F*cking hell.’ They’re really surprised when Alex grabs them, and you’re talking about guys like two or three divisions up from him. Lightweight’s only one division above him. So, I think you’d see the same Alex, just that strength and that raw [physicality] that he brings.”
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