Dana White On Islam Makhachev’s Win, Volkanovski’s Reaction And More

In the latest MMA news, Dana White has revealed his potential plans for Islam Makhachev following his win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294.

The lightweight champion stopped Volkanovski in the first round in emphatic style after a leg kick to the head connected, which sent the featherweight champion to the canvas.

Thereafter, Makhachev followed up with numerous ground and pound strikes as the referee called off the bout. The victory was a second over Volkanovski, which put to bed any concerns over the decision in the first fight.

And now that the dust has settled down somewhat, White gave his thoughts on who could face Makhachev next. In a choice between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, White fovored the former but could not give any definitive comments as of now.

White On Makhachev

“You’ve got to give it to Oliveira… But again, these are all questions I can’t really answer right now,” White

Oliveira had been on course to face Makhachev only for the fighter to pull out after suffering an injury. During a sparring session, Oliveira had shared pictures showing numerous cuts under the eye, which required extensive stitching.

The turnaround time was not adequate enough for the cut to heal, as Volkanovski stepped in with less than two weeks notice. And yet, Makhachev himself, has downplayed a chance of a rematch with Oliveira.

After having already beaten the fighter previously, the star did not see the logic behind it. However, as always, Makhachev was ready for any challenge come what may.

Makhachev’s Response

“It’s not my job. Dana has to work on this. I just will sign the contract. Just send me the name. But my opinion, I feel like I already have two opponents. Charles? OK, I will beat Charles, but who’s going to be next? (Justin) Gaethje? He will wait? I don’t think it’s a good idea, but it is what it is. If they say Charles, OK. If they say Gaethje, for me it’s OK. It doesn’t matter – I will be ready. “It’s not going to be different. I will show him, and he will feel a hard time. He will give up, and I will choke him or finish him,” Makhachev stated 

Meanwhile, Volkanovski has opened up about the loss following the criticism that has emerged emerged over the decision to take the fight on short notice.

There were many eyebrows raised when the Australian took the bout with less than two weeks to go. However, the featherweight champion backed himself to come out victorious in a show of supreme confidence.

But the result turned out to be anything but that, as Volkanovski had now looked back at the decision to take the fight with mixed feelings. The desire to remain active appeared to come at the cost of a lack of preparation which hindered the Australian in the end.

Volkanovski’s Reaction

“This opportunity came up and to be honest, I wasn’t training as much as I should’ve. But I thought I had to do it. I had to take it. I’m telling myself it’s meant to be. I was struggling a bit not fighting, doing my head in. I don’t know how. Everything’s fine. I have a beautiful family but I don’t know. You just need to keep busy. That’s why I just asked the UFC to keep my busy. I just need to be keeping busy. I need to be in camp, otherwise I’m going to do my head in.

“I need to be busy. Again, it’s just I think my purpose obviously now is family and fighting. When I’m not fighting, I don’t feel like I’ ticking all the boxes. I need to be ticking all the boxes. I don’t like wasting time,” Volkanovski stated

Moving forward, Volkanovski is likely to drop down back to featherweight in what should be another defense of his title. And the sooner the champion bounces back with a win, the better.