Eugene Bairman, mentor to UFC featherweight champion Alexandra Volkanovski, admitted that he opposed his ward taking a rematch with the owner of a belt of a higher category Islam Makhachev.
Let us remember that last year the Australian suffered two defeats from the Dagestani. In February, he lost by decision, and in October, having agreed to the fight ten days before the tournament, he lost by knockout.
“I never seriously thought about fighting Islam again. I was against Alex taking this fight and spoke openly about it. Of course, Volkanovski is a great fighter, but you have to stay relevant a little bit.
You trained for 12 weeks before your first meet and still lost. These 12 weeks were not enough for the judges to give you the win. It is unrealistic to expect a different outcome from a rematch, having a week of preparation behind you. Moreover, against Islam, which has an ideal style for MMA,” Medium quotes a specialist.
