UFC 294 HEAD kick KNOCKOUT!!!   (Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski )

Head Kick: A Year and a Half of Concerns

The same issue I’ve been discussing for the past year and a half is that vulnerable to head kicks, he has a poor head kick technique, is extremely short, has been hit by head kicks numerous times, and his defense is so weak that it is impossible to block head kicks at this level with one hand. He attempted to do so against Max Holloway but was dropped; he then attempted to do it against Islam Makhachev.

The Vital Requirement for Elite Level Dual-Hand Defense Against Head Kick

The head kick in the first fight was partially blocked by those as well, so you have to use both hands to block them at this level. The hand that Alexander Volkanovski used to block is meant to guard up the kick; the other hand is used to stop it from continuing because he didn’t have the other hand. We’ve seen many examples of this happening in the past, including when Leota Mach knocked on Mark Munos, which was a very similar situation and he set up the head kick-off.  

Examining Defensive Oversight by Alexander Volkanovski: Dissecting the Head Kick Formation

The thing is, some people might think that Alexander Volkanovski thought it was going to be a head kick, but the reason you can see that he probably did not see a head kick coming is you just have to look at where his left hand is and his right hand that is guarding his head is always high look at all the times that Islam Makhachev through. He threw some light kicks here and there following the classic conditioning of attacking low attacking mid and then coming up high.

The Consistent Defensive Shortcoming of Alexander Volkanovski: Exposing the Hand Positioning Pattern

every single time—a body kick or a leg kick Regardless of where the kick is coming from, Alexander Volkanovski’s right hand is always raised above his head. His left hand follows the direction of the kick, so when the kick is low, it goes low but his right-hand stays high. When the kick is high, it goes high. There was a head kick before The Knockout that Islam

threw that Volkanovski was guarding better than the one that finished him. The reason for this was that, after deflecting the kick with his left hand, he brought his left hand to block the head kick as well. The kick still landed on Volkanovski, hitting him in the top of the head, just like the last time, but because he used his left hand, the kick was unable to follow through with more power, stopping as soon as it made contact.

Taking Advantage of Openings: Alexander Volkanovski Tactical Adjustment Against Islam Makhachev

 No matter how skilled a fighter appears, they will always have a weakness. Alexander Volkanovski identified this one perfectly. It was interesting to watch him get in there and use the under hooks to push Islam up against the fence. He is skilled at doing this against Islam, in part because he is shorter than Islam and can drive up underhooks more easily against taller opponents than it is against shorter opponents. Because of the underhooks, he was able to reverse Islam’s push-up. against the fence, but Islam did also appear noticeably stronger this time than when he had the Tai Plum on Alexander Volkanovski

The first time Alexander Volkanovski encountered a great deal of resistance, which Islam did not easily overcome. Therefore, we saw evidence that Islam was stronger this time because he had more rehydration, and we know that even though Islam entered the first fight compromised, he still managed to pull off and engage Alexander in a close battle.

UFC 294 Some Great Matches This year…some of them are listed in the following image

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