Islam Makhachev made an emphatic defence of his lightweight championship after knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in the first round of their main event match at UFC 294 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night
The pair had met in a five-round thriller at UFC 284 back in February which went the way of Makhachev, though many felt Volkanovski was hard done by.
This time however, Volk – who took the fight on very short notice after Charles Oliveira pulled out – was no match for the Russian, who dominated the fight and put his opponent down with a perfectly-timed head-kick, followed by a flurry of blows on the ground which forced the referee to end the fight just three minutes into the first round.
The lightweight king turns away another challenge!! 👑@MakhachevMMA defeats Alex Volkanovski by knockout in the rematch to defend his title at #UFC294!
— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2023
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“I showed him first a couple of low and body kicks, then I changed to a high kick. This is something we trained for a couple months – for Oliveira, and nothing changed here,” said Makhachev after the fight, adding a call for peace in the Middle East and refusing to call out any future opponent, insisting that the UFC will make that call for him.
“Obviously [it was a] great set-up, great kick. It’s hard, I don’t like losing, it hurts me. But he’s a great champion, what do you do?” said Volkanovski. “I back myself all the time, I still stand by that – back yourself every time.”
The remainder of the main card saw Khamzat Chimaev edge Kamaru Usman via majority decision in their middleweight bout to become the No 1 contender for Sean Strickland’s title; a light heavyweight clash between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker ended in a No Contest after an accidental illegal knee in the first round from the former; Ikram Aliskerov knocked out Warlley Alves in the first round of their middleweight match; and the bantamweight opener saw Said Nurmagomedov submit Muin Gafurov just over a minute into the first round.
The next UFC event is a Fight Night in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 5 November which will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Jailton Almeida and Derrick Lewis.
UFC 294 – Main card results
- Main event: Lightweight championship: Islam Makhachev def. Alexander Volkanovski via KO (head kick & punches), R1, 3:06
- Middleweight: Khamzat Chimaev def. Kamaru Usman via majority decision (29-27 29-27 28-28), R3, 5:00
- Light heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev v Johnny Walker – No Contest (illegal knee), R1, 3:13
- Middleweight: Ikram Aliskerov def. Warlley Alves via TKO (knee & punches), R1, 2:07
- Bantamweight: Said Nurmagomedov def. Muin Gafurov via submission (guillotine choke), R1, 1:13