Fight for the title of champion of champions – Newspaper Kommersant No. 25 (7470) dated 02/10/2023

On Sunday, Australia will host the fight, which, apparently, will remain the most significant for mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2023. It will meet two champions of the UFC, the main one in the promotion genre, in the light (up to 70 kg) and featherweight (up to 66 kg) categories – Russian Islam Makhachev and Australian Alexander Volkanovski, and they will have to determine simply the best – regardless of category – fighter. It will be a clash of two extraordinary careers and talents, in which Makhachev, who competes at a more comfortable weight, seems to be listed higher.

This fight for the lightweight championship belt in Perth is positioned not only by the UFC, but by all media resources covering mixed martial arts, not just as the most important event of the year in them. Such a label looks too obvious, banal. It is positioned as an event that can claim the status of one of the most important in the history of MMA in principle. And with the formal signs of the colossal significance of the central fight of the UFC 284 tournament, everything is in perfect order. After all, this is only the seventh time the promotion has succeeded in head-butting two reigning title holders. But this is more than a clash of two champions. The UFC has a rating of the strongest fighters, regardless of the weight category, an absolute rating. And in it, Alexander Volkanovski, the featherweight champion, belongs to the top line, and Islam Makhachev, the lightweight champion, is the second. That is, it will be a duel for the status of the best of the best, without any clarifying, confusing reservations. Everything is crystal clear.

And choosing a more or less adequate in terms of this clarity, the value of the prize at stake, an analogy from the complex world of MMA, anyone who is interested in it will probably quickly run into the only suitable one. Yes, October 2018. The wildly popular Irishman Conor McGregor, still considered the king of mixed martial arts, meets in the fight for the title of UFC champion in the same light weight with the Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov, whose charisma is also conquering the planet, runs into a merciless bashing and gives his crown to an opponent who will soon be in his prime forces, undefeated, will leave the octagon to prepare for the assault on the top of his friends, primarily Islam Makhachev, who is more like the heir to Nurmagomedov.

But one indication of formal causes is not enough. In this fight, two epic careers and two epic talents will come into play.

Each of the opponents has a defeat in the track record. But they are one of those that can be easily forgotten. Islam Makhachev had a misfire in 2015, at the dawn of the UFC conquest, and solely due to a lack of experience, Alexander Volkanovski had it even earlier, in 2013, when he, a former rugby player, suddenly became interested in martial arts, about a contract with the promotion only dreamed. Much more relevant than their winning streak. For Makhachev, after he smashed the Brazilian Charles Oliveira in October last year, reaching the champion title, she reached 21 fights, for Volkanovski, who in his previous fight in July 2022 finished with the American Max Holloway, stretched to 22. Both In the course of these series, we dealt with a lot of cool opponents. Both proved that they are obsessed with success and see no barriers to it.

Each of the opponents has a chic track record formed not only by this obsession, but also by extraordinary abilities. Both the Australian and the Russian have actually been recognized as phenomena. Alexander Volkanovski, who at the beginning of his fighting career was a rather primitive “bull terrier”, accustomed to solving problems with a swoop and aggression, gradually turned into a flexible and subtle athlete along the way. Honest analysts spend several paragraphs describing his arsenal: he learned how to defend well against takedowns both in the center of the octagon and at the net, gets up well from the stalls, knows how to hit hard both singles and series. Oh yes, and the low kicks with which Volkanovski so effectively unbalances his opponents! And let’s not forget about the speed – no one else has this.

But the set of Islam Makhachev is no less rich. To properly savor its exclusivity, one fact is enough. Naturally, introducing Makhachev, the same ESPN, which will broadcast the show in Perth to America, showed a video with an emphasis on his outstanding wrestling skills. Using them, holding painful, suffocating techniques, he finished many fights ahead of schedule, including the fight with Oliveira. But the thing is that there are versions that insist that Islam Makhachev – the most dangerous among the “drummers” in MMA and in the stance – boxing or, rather, kickboxing – feels no less comfortable than in wrestling. And, for example, about Khabib Nurmagomedov, whatever one may say, it was impossible to say.

This fight, of course, is tempting to call it an explosive mixture, from which it is not clear what will be born, because the champions have an equal number of everything. But bookmakers still see him as a rather clear favorite. And this is not the owner of the site, but the owner of the category: bets on the victory of Islam Makhachev are accepted with odds in the region of 1.15–1.2. The specialists who count them, apparently, have little faith in the fact that speed, low-kicks and the support of a 15,000-seat hall will help Alexander Volkanovski defeat a man who is ten centimeters taller than him and who, thanks to his power, often forced look like “flies”. And for those who, in search of intrigue, study the opinions of celebrities of mixed martial arts and find that, say, Dustin Poirier and Chael Sonnen do not doubt the presence of intrigue, their statements should be read carefully. They say that they are sure that Volkanovski has a chance. But again, they encourage outsiders, even if they are talented and courageous.

Alexey Dospekhov