[autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] heaped praise on [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] after UFC 290.
Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) unified his featherweight title with a third-round TKO of interim champ Yair Rodriguez in this past Saturday’s headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Volkanovski is unbeaten at 145 pounds and has defended his belt five times. The lone blemish in his UFC career came against lightweight champ Islam Makhachev in February, in which Volkanovski pushed him to the brink in a close decision loss. Former title challenger Chandler sees Volkanovski as the most well-rounded fighter on the roster today.
“I break it down to three Cs of why I think Alexander Volkanovski is the most unbeatable – not just unbeatable champion, but the most unbeatable guy in the entire world,” Chandler said on his YouTube channel. “There’s a reason why he’s the pound-for-pound No. 1. I break it down to three Cs: completeness, cardio and composure. He is the most complete fighter that we have on the roster in the UFC – the most complete fighter in the world.
“The ability to be at home and be two to three to four steps ahead of his opponents in every single position in a fight, on the feet, navigating and negotiating the distance, navigating and negotiating the striking, his plethora of strikers that he has, very basic. He doesn’t try to get crazy out of his comfort zone even with however many titles defenses he has had now.”
Volkanovski has options. Unbeaten rising star Ilia Topuria awaits at featherweight, and a rematch with Makhachev at UFC 294 on Oct. 21 is also possible. Based off what he’s seen, Chandler sees Volkanovski giving both featherweights and lightweights problems.
“There’s not a featherweight alive that he can’t take down, and as we saw, there might not be a lightweight in the world that he can’t take down since he took down Islam Makhachev in their fight – which was a very closely contested fight,” Chandler said. “I know he wants that fight, and in my honest opinion, he might be the guy who might get that title shot.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.