Alexander Volkanovski believes teammate Israel Adesanya will pick up a statement win against Sean Strickland this weekend in Australia.
“Stylebender” will put his middleweight crown up for grabs against Strickland in the main event of the UFC 293 pay-per-view (PPV) event. Many have been favoring the champion to retain the middleweight throne, and Adesanya’s teammate, and current featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski is no different.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Volkanovski explained that he sees a dominant victory for Adesanya on the horizon.
“I’m not gonna take a heap away from Sean but stylistically and the level that ‘Izzy’ is at, there’s a reason why he’s such a favorite. Especially for this fight,” Volkanovski said. “Obviously, Sean Strickland supposedly has a wrestling and grappling background. He’s got a bit of an ego though, let’s be real. He’s like, ‘Ah, who cares about that s***. I’m just gonna go stand and bang.’
“Wasn’t very well for him with the whole [Alex] Pereira thing but there’s a good chance he does that anyway. But you might see him know that this isn’t a battle he wants to go down that sort of road with Israel Adesanya. He should learn that pretty early. ‘Izzy’s’ gonna really pick him apart, smash his legs with a variety of dexterity he has with his legs. Mixing it up at the leg, whether it goes to the body or up high, I can see so much damage happening.”
Volkanovski trains opposite Adesanya at City Kickboxing (CKB) under coach Eugene Bareman. If there’s anyone who knows exactly what Adesanya is capable of, it’s Volkanovski, who trains with the middleweight champ on a regular basis. In fact, Volkanovski is able to envision the fight so well that he firmly believes Adesanya will break Strickland’s arm with a kick.
“One thing that I’ve been thinking of and picturing in my head … a broken arm,” Volkanovski said. “Breaking Sean Strickland’s arm from a kick. I don’t know why, I’m just seeing it happen while he’s trying to block. Brings his hand up last minute and just snapping it. I’m actually picturing that.
“I’m gonna go obviously TKO. I think it’s gonna be a TKO mid rounds. Anywhere two-three, I think you could do it in the first but I’m picking round two, round three TKO stoppage and I think he really does put it on him. Sean Strickland’s gonna say some things and I think ‘Izzy’s’ gonna get the payback that he wants and it’s gonna be that type of fight where he really gets to hurt this guy. Sean’s tough, he’s gonna keep trying to come forward and I can just see him getting absolutely battered.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufcnews/volkanovski-predicts-israel-adesanya-breaks-sean-stricklands-arm