Alexander Volkanovski’s trainer, Eugene Bairman, explained why he didn’t second the Australian in his rematch with Islam Makhachev, and didn’t even watch the fight live.
“Actually, we didn’t have many chances,” the specialist was quoted by MMAnews. “But we got a good offer from the UFC, and Alex accepted. I didn’t even have time to get to Abu Dhabi and second him. Everything happened very fast and I had prior commitments that I couldn’t cancel. I just had time to review the video and sketch out a plan that, under the circumstances, gave us the best chance of winning”
“I didn’t even watch the fight – I was too scared of what might happen. I had a feeling it could be something like a knockout defeat. Obviously I didn’t want to be right, but unfortunately that’s what happened.”
In a recent interview, Alexander Volkanovski, who holds the UFC featherweight title, revealed that he agreed to accept a fight with Islam Makhachev on short notice in order to get out of a month-long bout.
Recall that the lightweight title fight, which headlined UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi last October, ended with the Russian winning by first-round knockout.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/33869-trener-volkanovski-ne-smotrel-revansh-s-makhachevym-iz-za-strakha.html?rand=19907
