Volkanovski's coach compares him to GSP ahead of UFC 333 title defence against Evloev

Alexander Volkanovski enters his UFC 333 featherweight title defence against undefeated challenger Movsar Evloev this Saturday carrying a lofty endorsement from his own corner: City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman has placed him alongside Georges St-Pierre as the defining pound-for-pound fighter of his era.

Bareman, who will corner Volkanovski at UFC 333, made the comparison in an interview with She Loves The Gloves, pointing to the Australian champion’s tactical versatility as the quality that most closely mirrors St-Pierre’s legendary career. St-Pierre lost just twice in 28 fights — both times to opponents he later defeated in rematches — and held UFC gold at welterweight and middleweight.

“He, to me, is our generation’s version of GSP,” Bareman said. “He can hit you at range, stay at range. He can fight going backwards. He can get aggressive and come forward. He can wrestle. He can defend wrestling and scramble. If you think about what he can do, he can take the fight and turn the fight and mold the fight into wherever he needs to go to beat the opponent, which is what GSP would do.”

Bareman was equally candid about the origins of Volkanovski’s greatness, arguing that natural talent played little part in his rise. “I don’t think he’s by any stretch of the imagination anywhere near the most talented athletes,” he said. “I don’t even think he’s in the top half of talented athletes that I’ve ever had involvement with. But hard work, commitment, dedication, a desire to get better will outwork talent and beat talent any single day.”

The coach described how relentless effort had effectively manufactured the ability that was not innately there. “A guy who probably wouldn’t make the top half of my talent list has made himself — through sheer determination and grind — he has turned himself into that talent,” Bareman added.

Volkanovski is in his second featherweight championship reign and has spent the better part of a decade entrenched in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings. His opponent Evloev arrives undefeated and represents one of the division’s most credible emerging threats, setting up a main event with genuine title-fight stakes at UFC 333.