Max Holloway (Image by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC through Getty Images)

How can Max Holloway win his rematch with Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 251?

There are very few fighters as skilled or accomplished as former featherweight champ MaxHolloway Having wins over other former champions like Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo, and Frankie Edgar, Holloway controlled the featherweight division for years, going on a 14-win- streak from 2014 to2018 It was in December 2019 at UFC 245 when Holloway would lose his championship status. In a very close bout versus existing champ Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway would go on to lose his belt, ending his famous featherweight reign. Throughout the battle, Volkanovski’s skillful game strategy stressed both leg kicks and a blitzing-style that led to Holloway being not able to close range as efficiently versus Volkanovski as he had versus his previous challengers.

In Spite Of Holloway’s loss, the Hawaiian mixed-martial-artist has actually been approved a rematch to effort to restore his featherweight belt as soon as again. Occurring at UFC 251 on the now-legendary Battle Island, Holloway will certainly have to make a couple of modifications in his battling design if he hopes to win the rematch versus Volkanovski.

These are the 5 keys to victory for Max Holloway.

1. Examine leg kicks

In his last battle, Volkanovski and his camp, City Kickboxing, developed a perfect gameplan that stressed leg kicks over anything else versus MaxHolloway In 25 minutes, Volkanovski landed an astonishing 75 legkicks If Holloway is to win the rematch, the first and probably the most crucial thing that Holloway should do is to start inspecting a few of Volkanovski’s legkicks While it’s no secret that Holloway has a bad routine of consuming leg kicks, the volume at which Volkanovski tosses them will leave Holloway in the dust on the scorecards like it performed in the previous battle. Holloway must start trying to inspect the kicks early on in an effort to discourage Volkanovski from tossing the kicks throughout the battle. If the checks can minimize the frequency of Volkanovski’s kicks, Max will have a much better chance of closing the range and making the battle more boxing-heavy- something that he would most likely gain from.

2. Toss more knees

In the last battle, both Holloway and Volkanovski unquestionably had their minutes, however Holloway’s best emphasize came when he took advantage of Volkanovski’s propensity to duck his head down and fire hooks over the top. Holloway would fire his knee up the center, landing on Volkanovski’s bent-down head, effecting him visibly on one celebration. While this was a very reliable technique, Holloway barely utilized his knees for the rest of the battle even after landing on Volkanovski. Utilizing his knees more frequently might be a significant advantage for Holloway, as the knees would force Volkanovski to be more tactical in the method he gets in Holloway’s variety. If Holloway is to prevent the blitzing power shots of Volkanovski, he should have more than simply his counter-punching to depend on, as Volkanovski revealed that Holloway’s widely known boxing design does not work versus him.

3. Fume early

When taking a look at Holloway’s profession in the UFC, something is clear: he is a sluggish starter. The first round of 4 of Holloway’s last 5 battles have actually been his least expensive output rounds. While the time taken to feel out your opponent is definitely crucial, Holloway should acknowledge that in order to beat Volkanovski, he should put a speed on him for all 5 rounds. Since this is a rematch, both fighters understand approximately what their opponent provides currently, and Holloway need to utilize that to his benefit. It would be wise to come out of the gate with an extremely pace-intensive design since cardio has actually never ever been a problem for Holloway. A much better start for Holloway might suggest using Volkanovski out much previously in the battle than last time, which would certainly be helpful to Holloway.

4. Body shots

In the later rounds of Holloway vs. Volkanovski I, Holloway started to experience much more success in general, landing much more reliable shots versus Volkanovski as time went on. While his comfortability was certainly a consider the boost in punches, Holloway likewise started to boost body strikes late in the battle. In the last 2 rounds, in truth, Holloway fired 23 of his 32 landed body strikes. Holloway would be wise to start utilizing the body strikes previously in the battle, as they had a noticeable impact on Volkanovski in their last bout. Holloway’s body shots would certainly effect Volkanovski’s cardio, however it would likewise open alternatives for Holloway in regards to striking. The duplicated landed body shots would force Volkanovski to obstruct them, opening head strikes more forHolloway If Holloway might start to fire those strikes off beginning in the first round instead of the 4th, it might alter the skin tone of the whole battle.

5 Interfere with combinations with the jab

In the last battle, among the most significant concerns Holloway was having was stopping working to avoid Volkanovski from shooting off long kickboxing counters, frequently getting stung on the backfoot with the 4th and 3rd strikes of Volkanovski’s combinations. Regardless of there being numerous incidents where Volkanovski’s combinations landed without any response originating from Holloway, there were numerous times where right prior to Volkanovski started his combinations, Holloway would fire a stiff jab that reduced the effects of Volkanovski truly efficiently. Holloway must utilize his jab much more frequently in the rematch, specifically in circumstances where he can land it prior to Volkanovski’s combination efforts. More reliable suppressing on Holloway’s part might suggest a lot, specifically on the judge’s scorecards. Max’s considerable height benefit need to be able to help him a bit in jabbing Volkanovski, even if he does not have the reach benefit.

Next: Every UFC interim title battle ranked from worst to best

UFC 251 happens on Saturday, July 11, 2020, live from Battle Island on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Follow in addition to FanSided for all your live news and highlights.

The post 5 keys to Victory for Max Holloway appeared first on World Weekly News.