The Film Room: Alexander Volkanovski

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UFC 232 is now available on Amazon Prime.

Rising Australian prospect Alexander Volkanovski returns to the Octagon Saturday for the biggest fight of his career against Chad Mendes at UFC 232. Volkanovski joined the UFC in 2016 and is a perfect 5-0, with wins over the likes of Darren Elkins and Jeremy Kennedy. But a win over Mendes would break him out of prospect status and propel him to the short list of title contenders in one of the most stacked divisions in the UFC.



Volkanovski is one of the most tiring fighters to scrap with in the UFC and he loves to grind out opponents on the ground or against the cage in the clinch. He does most of his work against the cage, whether it be striking or grappling, which forces opponents to carry his weight and drain their cardio. Although Volkanovski likes to get the fight to the ground, he rarely shoots for double or single legs from distance. Instead, he will pressure foes to the cage with his right hand and use the fence to secure the takedown.



Once on the ground, he wastes no time firing off ground and pound and he is rarely concerned with passing guard, since he knows he can pressure them back to the cage and land another takedown. All but two of his knockout wins came from the ground and even if he doesn't finish they will certainly be wary of his grappling if they make it to the next round. He is not much of a submission threat, but he is a brown belt in Brazilain jiu-jitsu and his vicious leather can open up positions for possible submissions.



On the feet, Volkanovski is a fairly basic striker and often gets by on his overhand right. He will occasionally throw a leg kick or lead leg head kick, but more often than not he is strictly looking for the overhand right to set up takedowns and clinch entries. Something to notice is how Volkanovski will throw the overhand right and leave his hand extended to grab a single collar tie and initiate the clinch. This is something that Daniel Cormier has made his career of and it’s nice to see that Volkanovski has the wherewithal to use little tricks like this to set up his grappling.



Volkanovski is normally the leading attacker, but we have seen him slow down at times and have success working on the counter. He has shown to be adept at slipping the jab and connecting with a counter overhand right or right hook, but just like his leading attacks, his counters can be predictable.



Volkanovski can be a dominant grappler but he is exceedingly predictable on the feet. He will frequently get stuck throwing nothing but the overhand right to lead leg head kick combo, and as the fight goes on his opponents start to notice and easily avoid his strikes. If Volkanovski could just add in some feints and misdirection to his leading attacks he would have much more success. But for now, he is much too predictable on the feet and fighters at the highest level may take advantage of this.

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