“My coaches have told me I have a good head kick. I always try to land the kick when I fight,” Makhachev said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “For an opponent like Volkanovski, who’s a little bit shorter, it’s the best plan to land some kicks. When you have short opponent, it’s easy to land. I show him low kick, body kick and show him head kick. This is the plan.
However, while Makhachev might be a company man when it comes to accepting fights, he made it clear that he’s not exactly thrilled with the possibility of another rematch.
“When you have rematch, it’s like the same. Exactly the same opponent. You have the same camp. It doesn’t make you happy,” he said. “Training last couple months for the same opponent…I said (during interviews) I have the same feeling. Last year I was here, the same gym, same team.
“When you prepare for some new opponents, it’s different. And you become a good fighter when you’re training for other opponents. Because every other opponent has something more, something different. When you’re training for the same opponent, it’s like you stay in one level.”
Makhachev defeated Oliveira via second-round submission in their first meeting at UFC 280, and he anticipates a similar result should they square off again in the near future.
“It’s not going to be different,” Makhachev said. “I will show him, and he will feel a hard time. He will give up, and I will choke him or finish him.”
