“ I don’t think it will go the distance this time, I think Volk will dominate and get him out of there before the third round” says Muay Thai fighter Olly Luscombe, UFC 294 has blown up in popularity after late replacements for the main events
The UFC 294 event in Abu Dhabi this Saturday is set to be one of the fight cards of the year, stacked with legends, upcomers, and some of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.
The main events are two of the biggest fights of the year with Kamaru Usman looking to bounce back from back to back defeats to lose his title. He’s against a machine in Khamzat Chimaev, who is looking to extend his streak of stellar wins and performances.
Professional Muay Thai fighter, Olly Luscombe believes “Khamzat and Usman will be a war and could be fight of the year if it goes past two rounds”. Luscombe went on to say that he believes “ Khamzat will absolutely maul Kamaru in the fight, Usman is too old and his knees are weak and damaged.”
Fighting fans all over the world are most excited for the rematch of the featherweight champion and the lightweight champion, Volkanovski against Mackhachev, Australia against Dagestan. Mackhachev won after a long fight last time, but a lot of the personalities around the fightgame believe Volkanovski is “gonna be the double champ”.
Luscombe went onto say “I think Volk will dominate and get him out of there before the 3rd round, but he will have to be at his best and stop the takedowns early and dominate on the feet, but I think he’s gonna be the double champ”.
With the event being in Abu Dhabi, there were controversies and issues raised about moving an event so giant out to the Middle East. Professional fighter Olly Luscombe gave his thoughts from a fighters point of view by stating that “The UFC is different to other sports in the sense that Dana White has had a strong relationship with his contacts in the Middle East and has spent years planning to move the UFC there.”
The Muay thai fighter then added that “as far as the controversy goes, I don’t think it’s anything to do with the sport; from a fighters point of view you are still in the cage with another man in a contest, where the fight is will not be any fighters first thought”.
Dana White has dealt well with the criticism from fans and the media about the event, Luscombe added that “Dana is perfect for the UFC, he’s a businessman, but he cares for the sport and is close with a lot of the fighters, the UFC has become such a powerful platform that as fighters, it’s a dream for us to fight in an organisation like the UFC”.
UFC 294 will be a spectacle and undoubtedly produce some elite level fights and entertainment, the question on everyone’s lips is will Volkanovski become a double division champion? And can he cement his place in UFC history as one of the few multi-divisional champions in the UFC.
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