Alexander Volkanovski can speak from experience when breaking down Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev.

Welterweight champion Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) makes his first title defense against Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 322 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+/FX, ESPN+) headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Although Volkanovski lost twice to Makhachev in their lightweight title fights, he pushed him to the brink in their first outing at UFC 284. Della Maddalena has a tendency of getting taken down, but his elite scrambling ability has allowed him not to get controlled for an extensive amount of time.

Volkanovski advises him to avoid the ground as a whole.

"Jack's great on the ground, but we don't want it to go to the ground," Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. "Even though Jack's good there, that's Islam's world. That’s all he does, 24/7, since he was walking. He probably started wrestling before he started walking. That's how long these guys have been doing this for. Do we want to go there? Be OK with the scrambles if you're comfortable enough in the scrambles, and keep that urgency, and use your weight ad hopefully wear on him. Obviously, I was able to tire him from all them little scrambles. Can Jack be effective where he can burn him there?

"Take the gas away. Again, if he's going to be complacent in the wrestling and then wait until he's on his back to build up, you're not going to tire Islam there. But Jack is going to understand: I ain't even letting you get this to the floor. I'm going to try and beat you on the feet, I'm going to keep you away, I'm going to have nice strong hips, I'm going to be very stubborn on the feet, stubborn on the wrestling. If it goes down, stubborn to build myself back up, and he's a great grappler so he can definitely do that. But, Jack needs to keep it on the feet."

UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski was a part of Della Maddalena's training camp for Makhachev. He was unable to capture a second UFC belt when Makhachev edged him out in their first fight, then knocked him out in their rematch where he stepped in on short notice at UFC 294.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 322: Alexander Volkanovski gives Jack Della Maddalena advice