Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski, 35, of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia is fighting Islam Makhachev, 31, of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia again. They are the Ultimate Fighting Championship‘s reigning champions in the featherweight and lightweight divisions, respectively.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Islam Makhachaev
Volkanovski became the UFC Featherweight Champion on December 14, 2019 in Paradise, Nevada, United States. He successfully defended the title from Max Holloway on July 12, 2020 and on July 2, 2022, Brian Ortega on September 25, 2021, Jung Chang-sung on April 9, 2022 and Yair Rodriguez on July 8, 2023.
Currently, Volkanovski holds a professional MMA record of 26 wins and 2 losses. He made his UFC debut on November 26, 2016.
On the other hand, Makhachev has 24 wins and 1 loss. He made his UFC debut on May 23, 2015.
Makhachev became the UFC Lightweight Champion at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on October 22, 2022. On February 12, 2023, he successfully defended the title from Volkanovski at “UFC 284” at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
From “UFC 284” to “UFC 294“
In the main event of “UFC 284”, Volkanovski tried to become the UFC Lightweight Champion while still reigning as the UFC Featherweight Champion. He did not become a two-division champion after losing via unanimous decision to Makhachev after five 5-minute rounds.
Since “UFC 284”, Makhachev has not defended the UFC Featherweight Championship belt. He was supposed to defend the belt at “UFC 294” from Charles “do Bronx” Oliviera, 33, of São Paulo, Brazil but the latter withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Volkanovski.
The rematch between Makhachev and Volkanovski is the main event of “UFC 294” at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 21, 2023. The co-main event is a middleweight bout between Paulo “Borrachinha” Costa, 32, of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil and Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev, 29, of Abu Dhabi.
CONAN Daily 