Israel Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman believes Alexander Volkanovski is 'the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.'
Volkanovski, 33, kept apace of Kamaru Usman as the UFC featherweight champion picked up a lopsided decided win at UFC 276.
Training alongside fellow UFC champion Adesanya for his training camp, Volkanovski stuck to his gameplan over five rounds while peppering Max Holloway with a long stinging jab again and again to ultimately pitch a shutout on the scorecards.
The Australian MMA fighter is 25-1, and has held the 145lb belt since 2019.
And Bareman believes that - after arguably putting in the best performance of his career to date - Volkanovski is the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport right now.
“Oh man, I’m lost for words, man," he told Submission Radio.
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“Like, it’s just… the team, me, Joe, Alex, the coaches, we talked about a masterclass, about just cementing, solidifying every round and just being convincing.
Eugene Bareman believes Alexander Volkanovski is 'the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.'
"S***, I didn’t know he’d be that convincing. I didn’t know that. As much as I’ve gotten to know Alex over the years, the guy could still have a performance like that and still leave me gob-smacked.
"I’m like, wow. Just when you think he’s good and he’s at his best, he finds another level. And just, what a masterclass.
"Like, respectfully, if that’s not the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, then I don’t know who is.
“He’s the best on the planet.
“He was the best after the first fight with Max. Max was the best, and then we beat him. And then people still didn’t – there was still some doubters.
"And then the second fight was close, but we still won. And then there was still some doubters. I was never in doubt.
"I knew Alex was the better fighter from the start. I didn’t think we had to have the second fight. I definitely didn’t think we needed the third fight to prove that.
"Now, it’s not important to me, it’s not important to me, but it does get important to Alex and it does get important to the team.
"Recognize what he is. He’s the best featherweight in the world. He’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world right now.
"And if you can’t see that, if you can’t see that, then I’m not gonna insult you, then you need to learn more about his sport and understand this sport better and just get into the sport more.
"But that’s what I would like for people to walk away from this performance with. That’s the best fighter on the planet at this very moment.”
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