Alexander Volkanovski faced Max Holloway for the third time at UFC 276 and proved himself levels above the former Featherweight champion. In their previous outing, Volkanovski struggled with the shorter stance of Max as well as his kicks along the fence. Volkanovski found success in the first fight with his leg kicks, forcing Max to change stance midway through.

The intrigue of this bout comes from both fighter's expertise at adaptation. Holloway's camp prepares him excellently for individual opponents and the fighter himself executes these styles effortlessly, notably shortening his stance in the second fight against Volkanovski to mitigate the leg kicks that troubled him in their first meeting. Whilst Volkanovski's team are also excellent in preparation, Volk's brilliance is most prevalent in making mid-fight adjustments. In his title fight with Brian Ortega he entered the fight overswinging and being countered in the seconds he was out of position. However, Volkanovski was able to pull himself back and patch the hole. In the rematch with Holloway, Volk was able to claw back the last 3 rounds by making defensive adjustments as discussed by Dan Albert here

Changing Pace

In the trilogy fight Volkanovski put on the performance of a lifetime; showing off a beautiful duality of his early days as a heavy swinging clinch-fighter together with his later contender run as a more considered, technical point-fighter. At UFC 276 Volkanovski embodied the point-fighter with a punch, slick and technical in his exchanges whilst cracking Holloway with huge power shots when the openings arose.

Letting Max Holloway find a rhythm proved disastrous for Featherweight contender Calvin Kattar who suffered the probable worst beatdown in UFC history at the hands of Blessed. To stop Holloway finding his groove was imperative for Volkanovski and he executed the neutralisation perfectly. Max entered exchanges with his front leg raised in an effort to close the distance without eating one of Volkanovski's patented leg kicks, something he did with success in the second fight. However, this time Volk was prepared for it and simply backed up until the leg returned to ground before kicking it all the same. Volkanovski coupled these with occasional stabbing kicks to Holloway's lead leg, forcing Holloway to slide back.

The feinting game of Volkanovski was on point as ever, constantly showing a jab and low kick as well as hand-fighting to keep Max tentatively guessing. These feints wouldn't be nearly as effective without Volkanovski's real strikes which were present, pumping out feeler and power jabs meant to deal damage. The low kicks of Volkanovski were also varied in their power, slapping low kicks annoying and interrupting Holloway whilst his more powerful ones were there to hurt. Volkanovski chained feints into his combinations, showing 2 or 3 different looks in his advance before committing to what he wanted to land.

If Max did find himself in a rhythm, Volk was happy to stand his ground and box into a strong over-under clinch. This broke the pace whilst putting Volkanovski into an area of the fight he's been proficient in since the beginning of his UFC career. Volkanovski was clearly stronger than Holloway in the clinch, controlling him in most every aspect. When Holloway was able to slip away, Volkanovski felt it coming and landed powerful elbows including the spinning elbow along the fence that he used often in his earlier days.

Putting It Together

Stopping Max's momentum wasn't all that Volkanovski had to do, however. To win this fight he had to land more significant offence and land he did. Volkanovski took advantage of Holloway's upright stance with a homing missile of a right overhand set up by the aforementioned jabs and feints. The utilisation of the right overhand also worked for Volkanovski because of how lead-heavy Max is, rarely opening with a right-handed shot. Volkanovski was able to time this overhand over the top of much of Max's offence and in once instance open a large cut above Max's left eye.

The right overhand had other purposes than simply damage. The threat of the overhand forced Holloway to enter exchanges crouched over so as to slip the right. This not only broke Max's momentum but also allowed Volk to punish this predictable entry. Once Max had shown his hand with this new entry, Volkanovski began to lead with the left hook and punish the hunched fighter. Sometimes he chose to use the threat of the right hand as an entry to a right body hook against the now exposed ribcage of Holloway. As Holloway began to use this crouched position as an entry to body shots of his own, Volkanovski even employed uppercuts. Volkanovski ultimately managed to keep Max struggling to find a way out of this dilemma, unable to avoid the overhand without being hit by something else.

Volkanovski managed his distance masterfully. He stayed out of range of the taller fighter and closed the distance with speed and accuracy unseen against a fighter of Max's calibre. Volk's evasiveness was not only a result of his speed but his acknowledgement of Max's lacking right-handed lead. The Australian circled towards his left (Max's right) and thus kept himself safe from much of Holloway's offence. Holloway clearly recognised this during round three. For my money, his best round was the fourth as he pelted Volkanovski with rear roundhouses and spin kicks angled towards where Volkanovski would circle. Whilst none did significant damage, the kicks landed clean or against a hasty guard as Volk was forced to adjust. By the end of the fourth, however, Volkanovski had adapted to this changing strategy and begun circling to his right when he noticed Holloway setting up these strikes. In the fifth, Volkanovski had thrown together a consistent guard to block these kicks using his left hand to block the right side of his face. and his right arm to block his body. Volkanovski went on to dominate on the scorecards, winning a clear 50-45 across the board

"What now?"

At this point I'd like to take a stand somewhat. There is no #1 contender at 155. Islam Makhachev is coming off of wins over short notice Dan Hooker and Bobby Green. Poirier and Gaethje are coming off of title losses. Chandler hasn't done enough to earn the shot and Conor is still out of action. Likewise, there is no clear contender at 145, with Josh Emmett's claim to a title fight being weak at best. Meanwhile, both Charles Oliveira and Alexander Volkanovski have defended their titles in dominant fashion, showing extreme technical prowess each time. Volkanovski has proven incredibly difficult to submit and Oliveira has shown smart and powerful striking. Both match up in a martial arts fan's dream. Alexander Volkanovski vs Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title is absolutely the fight to make and both men have earned the challenge and legacy that this fight will bring.

Alexander Volkanovski is the best Mixed Martial Artist alive and competing. After this performance against another legend in his prime, it is nice to see him finally receive some of the credit for it. The chance to become a two-division champion should be granted.