Dan Hooker warns Islam Makhachev not to take Alexander Volkanovski lightly.
Immediately after submitting Charles Oliveira to claim the lightweight title at UFC 280, Makhachev (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) called featherweight champion Volkanovski into the octagon for a faceoff. Makhachev wants to meet Volkanovski (25-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) at UFC 284 on Feb. 11 in Perth, Australia, but Hooker thinks the direct challenge probably means he’s underestimating him.
“For Islam to turn around very quickly and to call out Alexander Volkanovski, who I feel like they’re doing it because obviously it’s a chance at the No. 1 pound-for-pound (spot), but I feel they’re kind of looking down and being like, ‘Oh man, we’ll go snatch up this featherweight real quick,” Hooker told Submission Radio.
“But they’re really in for a whole lot of trouble. That’s an incredibly difficult man to hold on the ground. Like, he keeps saying he’s short and stuff like that, but holding him on the ground, holding a guy that’s that stocky on the ground is incredibly difficult. So I feel like he’s in for an incredibly tough test in Alex Volkanovski in Perth.”
Volkanovski has competed all the way up to 170 pounds but has made his mark at featherweight. Unbeaten in the UFC, Volkanovski has defended his title four times and is chasing dual-champ status. He weighed in as a backup for Makhachev vs. Oliveira, and now that a new champion has been crowned, he’s ready for his shot at 155-pound gold.
Hooker, Volkanovski’s teammate at City Kickboxing, returns to action on Nov. 12 when he takes on Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 in New York. Headlining the Madison Square Garden card is another City Kickboxing standout, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who faces Alex Pereira.
