UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski could have fought Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in a rematch later this year — but he chose to remain active.
Makhachev just about outpointed Volkanovski when they met in the UFC 284 headliner in February in a fight many believe the latter edged.
Both fighters, especially Volkanovski, called for a rematch afterwards. He would have even gotten it with Makhachev expected to return to action at UFC 294 which takes place Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi.
However, that meant staying inactive for at least eight months and with the featherweight titles needing unifying, Volkanovski instead chose to face interim champion Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290.
“I wanted to be active. I told you that,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel (via MMA Fighting). “I was asked after the fight [with Makhachev], do I want to wait around for the rematch, do I want to fight at featherweight, what do I wanna do? I don’t want to wait around. They said, ‘Do you want to wait around and the only thing is if you wait for that fight, that might not be until the end of the year.’ We don’t know when that fight is happening but it’s not looking like it’s gonna be anytime soon.
“I ain’t waiting. I’d rather fight featherweight then do the rematch sometime at the end of the year, whenever it is. Whenever that fight can happen, that fight’s always gonna be there. I want to stay active and I told you I wanted to stay active and I wasn’t lying. This is proof of that.”
Of course, had Volkanovski waited, he might have faced Makhachev this year.
But now, there's no guarantee he'll get a rematch in 2023 especially with former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira taking on top contender Beneil Dariush at UFC 289 next month.
That's fine by Volkanovski as he believes he'll eventually get his shot again. And just like he's remaining active right now, he plans to remain that way even as a future double champion.
“When I do get that lightweight belt, you know I’ll be keeping both divisions busy,” Volkanovski added. “A lot of people were like, ‘How you gonna do it?’ This is how I’m gonna do it.”
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