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Coach Conversation | Volkanovski vs Rodriguez
Elite MMA Coaches Break Down Saturday's UFC 290 Main Featherweight Title Bout
Ahead of every championship fight, UFC staff writer E. Spencer Kyte will sit down with some of the sharpest coaching minds in the sport to break down the action and provide UFC fans with insights into each championship pairing from the men that spend their days getting these elite athletes prepared to compete on the biggest stage in the sport.
For UFC 290, Kyte called upon Tyson Chartier, head coach of the New England Cartel, and and Xtreme Couture ringleader Eric Nicksick to provide their thoughts on four points heading into the featherweight title unification bout between Alexander Volkanovski and interim titleholder Yair Rodriguez that closes out this weekend’s packed pay-per-view event.
Best Trait of Each Fighter
Kyte: At a time in the sport where everyone is pretty solid everywhere, generally speaking, what is the one thing that each of these competitors do better than anyone else?
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Nicksick: I think the best trait of Volkanovski is that every time out, he finds new wrinkles and new ways to evolve for the positive. He’s got that Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan mentality of ‘I might be No. 1 — 1A or 1B — but I’m going to add things to my toolbox and extend my lead on people.’
I feel like he’s better every time out and, to me, his competitive edge of constantly evolving and becoming better is his best attribute.
Main Event Preview | UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez
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Main Event Preview | UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez
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Chartier: Man, Volkanovski? I just think he’s the most cerebral, smartest, highest IQ guy of anybody that fights; that’s my opinion.
It’s not just the adjustments he makes coming into different fights — it’s the improvements that he makes going into those fights. You see him improve; he’s still getting better. He just fights so smart. He beat Max three different ways; it’s very impressive. He’s outstriking some of the best strikers in the world. He’s out-wrestling or wrestling with some of the best wrestlers in the world. He came in a grappler and now he’s at this level as a striker?
His stock went way up with me in the Makhachev fight. He has the smartest people in every facet around him, and then he’s got fighters like Izzy and (Dan) Hooker around him to talk shop. I’m very, very impressed by him; his approach, his Fight IQ, how diverse he is.
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Nicksick: A couple things that stand out to me for Yair are obviously his kick game is unbelievable — the way he sets up his kicks, his movement, his flow — but I’ve also been impressed by Yair’s development of his ground game, especially off his back.
We saw Frankie Edgar hold him down, at will, with really no urgency of getting up, but what he’s changed is that he attacks a lot off his back. He’s physical off his back, tries to hack your face off or triangle you.
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The kick game is the most evident, but I think his improvements with what he’s doing off his back has been the most impressive for me as of late.
Chartier: Yair? He’s a calculated wild man. It seems like when he gets everything dialed in off the mats, he can do special things on the mats. What he did to Josh Emmett was very impressive.
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He’s so dynamic, so aggressive, and unpredictable, and I think that’s the biggest thing he brings into this fight. You know he’s going to be aggressive with a bunch of kicks, but what else is he going to do?
Path to Victory for Each Fighter
Kyte: Everyone would love a 10-second knockout or a quick submission, but that’s not often how these things go, especially not at the championship level. Instead, it’s usually the competitor that has crafted the better game plan and did the better job of executing things inside the Octagon that comes away with their hand raised and the gold around their waist.
So, how does either man get it done on Saturday night?
Chartier: You can’t stand in front of Yair — if you become a predictable target, like Emmett did, he’s going to launch on you, and then anything can happen. The kicks, the knees, the chaos — you can get clipped with something, so you can’t be a sitting duck with a kid like Yair.
I think Volkanovski has got to use his footwork and his long reach, so he’s got to find that outside game, too. He’s got to pressure, but you’ve got to pressure with care because you can’t enter recklessly. I think Volkanovski has to mix in takedowns, use his footwork, and just pick his shots, like he always does. I do think when they get to the ground, Alex will have a pretty big advantage; a lot more than people think he will.
I think Rodriguez has to be aggressive and you have to get Volkanovski thinking about what you’re doing, make him react to that, put him on defense, because he’s rarely on defense. If he can come out aggressively like he did against Emmett, but be unpredictable, he has to keep moving, don’t be a stationary target for him, either.
Nicksick: For me, Yair is utilizing his footwork and movement and smoothness out of both stances, but try to catch Volkanovski slipping or leaning to one side or another to try and set up some of those same-side head kicks. Use your punches to set up kicks, get him slipping or something.
Volkanovski has shown he’s got a great chin, he’s durable, but I think that’s Yair’s best path to victory: he’s going to have to try to catch Volkanovski with the wrong slip, the wrong defense, and put a shin bone across his forehead.
And then I would say Volkanovski needs to utilize some wrestling and in-tight boxing to get inside of that kicking range. Be all the way in or out, use the feints and footwork to get Yair backed up behind the barrier; fight this fight from more of a dirty boxing, clinch standpoint.
Although I said earlier that Yair’s game off his back has gotten better, I think Volkanovski can look to get to that half-guard position and try to stay there, wear on him, beat up on him, and take that sting out of him. If you want to play around a little more on the feet come rounds four and five, I’d feel more comfortable doing that if you’ve taxed on him.
So that would be my strategy if I were Volkanovski: be heavy, drag on his head, make him wrestle, make him grapple; try to take some of that energy out of him in the first couple rounds and then go from there.
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X Factor
Kyte: If there were one thing that was going to significantly impact how this fight plays out — that swings it in one direction or the other — what would it be?
Nicksick: I don’t know if there is a big X factor that stands out to me, but the constant improvement out of both fighters really shows the growth and evolution of this sport.
Yair is a guy that lost to Max Holloway two fights ago, and now he’s in a position where he fought for the interim title and now he’s fighting to solidify the title; it shows how fast the game changes.
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Chartier: I think it’s Yair’s takedown defense. I do think Alex will wrestle, and so is Yair able to defend any of those takedowns? Obviously, he’s gotten better, but Volkanovski is definitely taking him down, so how’s his takedown defense look?
One Coaching Curiosity
Kyte: Coaches see the sport differently and look at the sport differently than anyone else, picking up on different things and paying attention to movements, habits, or intangible pieces that others might not notice, but that could have a significant impact on the action inside the Octagon.
Every matchup offers its own unique collection of elements that might pique a coach’s interest and get them paying a little closer attention to once the fight gets underway.
So what is that one thing in this matchup?
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Chartier: I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m interested to see if Yair just accepts the takedown.
If you have a guy that can wrestle with Makhachev, you know realistically in your heart of hearts you’re going to have a hard time wrestling Volkanovski; it’s five rounds. So do you want to get taken down and have your back taken, get mounted in the takedown because you’re trying to defend?
Or do you want to be like, “Cool — let’s beat the s*** out of him off our back,” you know? Is he going to be more open to accepting the takedown so that he doesn’t get more tired or because he thinks he can submit him off his back? Or does he look at the Ortega fight, where the triangle was off his back?
UFC Breakdown | UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez
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UFC Breakdown | UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez
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I’m interested to see if he’s been taught “don’t go” or if he’s like, “Take me to the ground; let’s go!” I’m interested to see how he plays that, because you can get really tired defending takedowns, and the harder you defend the takedown, the more likelihood you’re going to get put into a beat-down position — a dominant position from the top where they can finish the fight — versus if you end up in full guard or half guard.
Nicksick: I’m a really big fan of what Volkanovski does with his feint game. A lot of those City Kickboxing guys — and I know he splits time with them and his head coach is Joe Perez — I’m always been interested in what they do with their feint game, how they gather data, so I think it could be very interesting to see how he draws those kicks out of Yair and how does he counter those kicks?
You don’t want to be at the tail end of those kicks and too far away to counter because Yair is so good at getting his legs back underneath him to counter back with hands. It’s going to be a chess match of where to catch these kicks, how do you counter them, and what do you counter them with? That’s what I’m curious to see.
UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 8, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
