Alexander Volkanovski vs Islam Makhachev proves why MMA is the best combat sport
In February 2023, two of the greatest and most dominant fighters to ever grace the UFC will stake their claim for all-time greatness. Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski steps up a weight class to take on Islam Makhachev, in a matchup that pits two of the P4P top ten against one another for UFC gold.
This fight is so intriguing, because the Dagestani incursion of the UFC hasn’t yet been solved. Islam Makhachev handily outstruck and submitted one of the most dangerously well-rounded fighters we’ve seen in Charles Oliveira. Volkanovski on the other hand has looked nigh unbeatable, his focus, stamina, timing and accuracy are on a whole other level.
Fights like these prove MMA is the best sport
In the context of boxing, you rarely see the best fight the best. At the time of writing, Tyson Fury still hasn’t fought Anthony Joshua. Anthony Joshua still hasn’t fought Deontay Wilder. Terrence Crawford still hasn’t fought Errol Spence Jr. The only fighters who seem to fight the best competition either don’t hold the titles, don’t get recognition, or their name is Canelo.
Whereas in MMA, in 2022 alone, we saw these spectacles:
- Ngannou vs Gane
- Figgy vs Moreno 2&3
- Adesanya vs Whittaker II
- Oliveira vs Gaethje
- Teixeira vs Prochazka (and almost saw the rematch in December)
- Tsarukyan vs Gamrot
- Blaydes vs Aspinall
- Usman vs Edwards II
- Gane vs Tuivasa
- Oliveira vs Makhachev
The list goes on…
Champions Fight OFTEN
Champions in MMA also fight frequently (with UFC as the focal point), in 2022 alone we saw Adesanya fight twice, the light-heavyweight belt was won, lost, and fought for. I’m only talking about championship bouts here too, every division is a hub of activity, and the top ranked fighters are often fighting for their shot at greatness.
2 Champions, 2 Belts – No BS
Alexander Volkanovski is the reigning Featherweight belt holder, and he’s looking to attain double champ status by taking the Lightweight strap from Islam Makhachev.
In MMA we have different promotions, with some being more prestigious than others. Most of the time when there’s champions in different promotions, we’re comparing no more than 3 fighters at a time. This beats the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF mess that we see in boxing. As well as this, there are 17 weight divisions, and they’re still inventing new ones (Bridgerweight).
The UFC has 9 weight divisions. So you’ll see no more than 9 champions. That’s it. There aren’t four separate lightweight champions with different variations of the same belt. This way, we have definitive champions, and no debate as to who is the best.
Do you agree on this take? who do you have winning between Volk and Islam? Drop a comment below.
Mathew is a UK based combat sports writer. His work can be found in MMAKnockout and Heavy on UFC. Contact Mat via [email protected]