Alex Volkanovski will not shy away from striking battle with Yair Rodriguez: “Taekwondo Volk’s gonna come for Yair”

Alex Volkanovski is not shying away from a striking battle with Yair Rodriguez.

It will be this coming Saturday, July 8th at UFC 290 where Alexander Volkanovski (25-2 MMA) will meet Yair Rodriguez (16-3 MMA) in the featherweight main event title fight.

Volkanovski, 34, will be aiming to get back in the win column after being defeated by Islam Makhachev (24-1 MMA) this past February at UFC 284.

Rodriguez, 30, has back to back wins coming into UFC 290, defeating Josh Emmett (18-4 MMA) earlier this year and Brian Ortega (15-3 MMA) back in July of last year.

It was during a recent interview with ‘NBC Sports’ that Alex Volkanovski spoke about his return to featherweight:

” It’s all about getting good guys in that are gonna give me as many different looks as they can, unpredictable looks. I’ve got a 11-time Taekwondo world champion, Carl Van Roon… throwing tornado kicks and you name it at me… just giving me as many looks to keep me on my toes.”

Volkanovski sought the help of Taekwondo legend, Carl Van Roon, in preparing for his upcoming battle with Rodriguez.

Continuing, Alex Volkanovski spoke about Yair Rodriguez saying:

“The fighter Yair is now compared to when he fought someone like Dan Hooker or even Frankie Edgar… completely different fighter. Way better at certain ranges. I think he was better at one range early in his days. Now he’s just as dangerous in every range. So that’s something that excites me. I can’t wait to go out there and systematically break him down, and show people that even the most unpredictable, awkward, and hardest guys to sort of train for, even I can shut them down.”

Concluding ‘The Great’ spoke about his upcoming battle (h/t MMANews):

“Everyone knows that I love to take people out of their own game as well. I really like challenging people and showing people how wide my skill set is, how well rounded I really am. The Taekwondo challenge excites me. I can’t wait to throw some spinning heel kicks, and Taekwondo Volk’s gonna come for Yair, you know, really beat him at his own game.”

Will you be watching UFC 290 this weekend? Do you think Volkanovski can get back in the win column by defeating Rodriguez?

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