Something has changed in Alexander Volkanovski. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s subtle, but as a Volkanovskologist, it\u2019s noticeable. Heading into his fight with the undefeated Russian wrestler Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, Volk will tell anyone who will listen how old he is.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n He did a bit of this as a joke heading into his last few fights, particularly with Topuria as he donned an old man outfit, but this time it seems more sincere.<\/a> He\u2019s no longer poking fun at the narrative, he\u2019s engaging seriously with it in interviews. Leading into this fight, he tells us freely that he\u2019s \u201cnot in [his] prime anymore\u201d but in the same breath he says it doesn\u2019t matter because we\u2019re going to see the most complete version of Volkanovski ever against Evloev. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He also, for the first time, is talking about retirement seriously. He\u2019s said that if the fight goes \u201cterribly wrong\u201d against Evloev, he\u2019ll give it away. If it doesn\u2019t, he\u2019ll keep rolling.<\/a> That\u2019s a far cry from what sounded like a man in mental health crisis after he was knocked out by Makhachev after stepping in on very late notice in 2023. After that fight he said he accepted the fight because \u201cwhen I wasn\u2019t fighting or in camp, I was doing my head in\u201d and that he was \u201cstruggling a little bit\u201d before emotionally begging the UFC to \u201ckeep [him] busy.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n His shift in mentality is drastic, but he might be right about seeing the best version of himself in any case. That\u2019s true both because he knows how good he is on his own, but also how good he is in comparison to the rest of the division. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Volk is so relaxed because he knows he can\u2019t get hurt in this fight. He also knows he\u2019s probably going to win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Assuming the fight goes ahead in the UAE and the Houthis don\u2019t have other ideas about a major western event happening within distance of their ballistic missile range, we are in a position where we could see Volk really start to pour it on Father Time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Evloev is obviously a talented fighter with a 20-0 MMA record. His base is as a master chain wrestler, who will essentially dominate you positionally but not hunt for finishes like Khabib Nurmagomedov or even Islam Makhachev would. Because of that constricting, blunting fighting style, all 10 of Evloev\u2019s wins in the UFC have come by way of decision.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Good luck winning that way against Volk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his title-eliminator against Lerone Murphy, Evloev clearly got a talking to from the UFC who must have told him that if he wants a title shot it isn\u2019t good enough just to win. He also needs to be exciting.<\/a> In that fight, Evloev stood up and banged with Murphy and put on a more exciting fight than we\u2019re used to from him, but his stand up is a far cry from his ground game. Evloev has just three knockouts in his MMA career, his last one coming against Rafael Dias in 2018, when Evloev was fighting under the M-1 Challenge banner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If Evloev wrestles Volkanovski, Volk will at least blunt him and probably turn it around on Evloev, whom he will make work to hold his position like he did with Makhachev the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If Evloev stands up against Volkanovski, he\u2019s cooked. Volk just destroyed the far more dangerous Diego Lopes on the feet over two fights because he has a PhD in space, movement, and timing.<\/a> He will keep Evloev moving, keep changing the picture that Evloev sees, and as Evloev is trying to solve a puzzle, Volk will sock him in the head, circle out, and make Evloev start solving the puzzle all over again. Even as an older fighter, Volkanovski knows he can still get the young boys thinking, and while they\u2019re thinking he\u2019s winning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Volk is engaging with his age, and engaging with the prospect of the end because he\u2019s lapping it. He\u2019s rubbing Father Time\u2019s nose in his very specific form of greatness. Very few have been in as much trouble against Father Time as Volkanovski was after back-to-back knockouts by Makhachev and Topuria then climbed back as he has. He\u2019s done to Father Time what he did to Brian Ortega when he worked his way out of deep water in the Triangles and then immediately started pouring it on.<\/a> The only other guy I can remember in a death fight with Father Time and then winning it is Tom Brady after the Kansas City game in 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n