Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski was a clear underdog going into his fight against Islam Makhachev. But the Aussie managed to subvert everyone’s expectations and put up a very competitive bout against the 155 lb king. He is so confident in fact, that an immediate rematch at Abu Dhabi also seems like a good idea to him.
He seemed to have accepted the result of the first fight as he said, “Good, close fight… back and forth. You’re gonna hear people say, ‘Robbery!’ And things like this. Close fights like that, you can never say they’re robberies. Can you see it going my way? Yeah. Can people see it going his way? Yeah. That’s gonna happen.”
“Did I think we did enough after watching back the tape? Yeah, I do. I’m sure he would say the same when he watches it… We knew it was close. So, I ain’t gonna say I definitely thought I won. I knew it could’ve went either way… Not a robbery,” he concluded.
Alex wants to carry this momentum to face the lightweight champ again hoping he can pull through this time. Ever since the match ended, both fighters have been expressing interest to run it back. When Makhachev tweeted for the next opponent, Volk retweeted saying, “Let’s run it back and give the people what they want! @MAKHACHEVMMA (Islam Makhachev),”
Let’s run it back and give the people what they want! @MAKHACHEVMMA https://t.co/clkz93ldaM
— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) February 22, 2023
How likely is a rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev?
UFC 284‘s co-main event saw Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett go at it for the Interim Featherweight championship. Yair managed to secure the win via a phenomenal win and naturally he is next in line for the title shot. Alexander may want to delay the unification bout but his division currently runs the risk of getting held up.
Makhachev has a lot of options on his plate too with contenders like Rafael ‘Ataman’ Fiziev and Beneil Dariush coming up. He has also teased a move to welterweight after UFC 286.
It’s unlikely we see the rematch anytime soon.
