Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski engaged in a technical sparring session just over a month out from their respective title fights at UFC 276.
City Kickboxing teammates Adesanya and Volkanovski are both in action during International Fight Week in July. The former looks to defend his middleweight title for the fifth time against top contender Jared Cannonier whilst the latter faces old foe Max Holloway in a trilogy fight.
The pair may be three weight classes apart, but that did not stop them from taking part in a light sparring session at their New Zealand gym as they gear up for their fights. Adesanya is almost a foot taller than Volkanovski and has a nine-inch reach advantage on him, but 'The Great' still did well to work on the inside during their spar.
Fans have since weighed in on the sparring session, with one user praising the technicality of the session. "I'd love to see more of the two of them sparring," they wrote. "Adesanya obviously has the range and size advantage but Volkanovski does well to be evasive and explode to get on the inside. Nice technical sparring."
Volkanovski started off his MMA career as a middleweight despite only being 5'6". He won four amateur fights at the weight class and continued to shed pounds throughout his career, eventually finding his feet at featherweight.
Another user pointed out Volkanovski's willingness to spar anyone regardless of size, writing: "Absolutely love this! This is why Volkanovski is the best, doesn’t care about size or weight, only about the fight. Absolute beast!"
Which UFC champion do you rate higher: Israel Adesanya or Alex Volkanovski? Let us know in the comments section below.
Volkanovski will look for a third win against Holloway at UFC 276 after outpointing him twice before. The pair first met at UFC 245 in 2019, when the Australian won the featherweight belt with a unanimous decision win. 18-months later they fought again, with Volkanovski winning a controversial split decision against his rival.
Since the rematch, he has defended his featherweight belt against Brian Ortega and most recently Jung Chan-sung, better known as The Korean Zombie. Holloway earned himself another shot to reclaim his belt with shutout wins against Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez.
Adesanya defended his belt earlier this year against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271, outpointing his rival in their rematch. Cannonier will look to hand 'The Last Stylebender' his first loss at 185lb in the UFC, with the 'Killa Gorilla' knocking out Derek Brunson on the same night as Adesanya's last win.
