UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is set to square off against Charles Oliveira later this year in October. This would be the pair’s second meeting inside the octagon, with the first one being won by the Dagestani via submission last year for the vacant lightweight championship. While this is a fight that fans certainly wanted to see again, one fight that could have drawn more eyeballs would have been a rematch between Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski with the two fighting for the first time in February earlier this year.
Their matchup earlier this year proved to be the toughest test of Makhachev’s career. And, interestingly, it even had Khabib Nurmagomedov tensed going into the fight.
Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals he was worried before Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski
Earlier this year in February, Alexander Volkanovski made his move up to the lightweight division to fight for the belt against Islam Makhachev. While the Dagestani was the favorite heading into the fight, Khabib Nurmagomedov wasn’t too confident.
However, it had nothing to do with Islam Makhachev not being prepared to face the Australian on his home soil. Instead, he was worried because he wasn’t in the corner of Makhachev for the first time in his career.
Khabib Nurmagomedov talks about his feelings during the Islam Makhachev vs volk fight pic.twitter.com/RoHWDOU0Wf
— Pablo_Escobar (@JM97_79) July 28, 2023
It is worth noting that ‘The Eagle’ and Makhachev trained together since the early days of their careers and even used to be one of the cornermen for each other’s fights. Speaking of the same, during an interview with Gorilla Energy Drink, the former UFC lightweight champion said:
“For the first time in my life, I wasn’t around. That’s why I worried.”
Despite the fact that Islam Makhachev won the fight via unanimous decision, the decision was surrounded by a lot of controversy, as many believed that Alexander Volkanovski did enough to win the bout.
Will Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski fight again?
Alexander Volkanovski recently defended his UFC featherweight championship against Yair Rodriguez. Following his victory, it was believed that the Australian would fight Islam Makhachev again.
However, the UFC ended up booking a rematch between Dagestani and Charles Oliveira. That said, if Islam Makhachev ends up beating Charles Oliveira again, we could potentially see a highly anticipated re-match between Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC lightweight championship.
