Charles Oliveira The UFC’s next pay-per-view headliner went to pieces Tuesday, just for the advancement to assemble apparently a significantly greater battle.
Charles Oliveira Previous top dog Charles Oliveira is harmed and out of the lightweight title headliner at UFC 294 on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi, UFC president Dana White affirmed Tuesday night in a news meeting after Dana White’s Competitor Series.
In Oliveira’s place, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will step in to battle lightweight winner Islam Makhachev on 11 days’ notification.
White said it took “one call” to get Volkanovski to consent to the battle.
White said Oliveira supported a cut on his eyebrow in his last round of competing Monday night. He and his group should travel to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for the battle one week from now. The cut was serious enough that it required fastens and constrained Oliveira from the session.
Makhachev and Volkanovski battled in February at UFC 284, with Makhachev winning a nearby consistent choice in one of the most mind-blowing battles of this or some other year. ESPN has Volkanovski positioned as the No. 1 pound-for-pound contender on the planet, with Makhachev No. 2.
“This is the manner by which we make it happen, sibling,” White said. “One battle drops out and we wind up making a battle – – it’s one of the most expected rematches at any point in that weight class.”
Makhachev (24-1) has won 12 straight battles and has one title guard. The 31-year-old Dagestan local is the long-lasting preparation accomplice of undefeated all-time incredible Khabib Nurmagomedov, the resigned previous UFC lightweight boss.
Volkanovski (26-2) bounced back from the Makhachev misfortune to beat Yair Rodriguez by means of third-round technical knockout in a featherweight title battle at UFC 290 in July. The 35-year-old Australian has five effective title safeguards and six featherweight title battle wins, the second most in division history.