It is official.
Alexander Volkanovsky and Islam Makhachev both want him back.
Talking to main events Nico Pajarillo After the lightweight champion successfully defended his belt at UFC 284, the pair confirmed they were interested in a rematch.
“Why not?” Makhachev answered simply when asked if he would fight the Australian again.
“Let’s go. If they want to, let’s go. I’m ready.”
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When told that Makhachev was eager to face off again, Volkanovski confidently replied that he would also welcome the chance to gain double champion status again.
‘Rematch? Let’s do it.’ said the Aussie.
“Not now,” he added of the prospect of returning to featherweight right away.
“Not now that you’ve told me so. Re-match it. Immediately, as soon as possible.”
Frank Volkanovski admitted while speaking to The main event That he has one major regret that makes him wish he could start the whole fight over again.
“I think in certain situations I would give him a little bit of respect,” he said.
Immediately I said to the corner, ‘He’s not strong, he’s probably swallowing me. So don’t get out of the situation too early on this one.
So I let a few rounds get away from me because I was worried, I guess I thought more and eventually I was going, ‘F***, what are you waiting for? Go for it’ and see what happened.
Again, obviously now that I know I wish I could start again, it’s going to be a very different fight. I wouldn’t give the guy as much respect as I did.
Again, I have respect for the man, I knew his team was good, prepared properly, maybe in certain situations, I played it safe rather than take advantage and support myself in certain situations.
“But again it was very close and a lot of people think I won it anyway but it’s not good enough for me.”
While Volkanovski may be his harshest critic, Makhachev was full of praise for the Australian going so far as to say that he was the toughest opponent he faced so far in his UFC career.
“He gave me [a] Tough time but me [will] “He improved a lot from this fight,” said Makhachev, who improved to a 24-1 record. The main event.
“He’s small, but he’s so powerful. That’s why he is [was] pound pound [the] The best fighter in the world by far. That’s why people called him [the] The best fighter. He gave me a very good fight.”
Makhachev v. Volkanovski Fighting Highlights | 03:05
Volkanovsky stunned Makhachev in the final round of the fight with a powerful right hand, giving the raucous RAC Arena crowd one last glimmer of hope that the Australian would come out on top.
But Makhachev said he made a strategic decision not to knock Volkanovsky in the final round, knowing he would have already gone up on the scorecard.
“When I always want to take him down, I hold him but I don’t try to finish him many times because I know he will be tough in the five rounds,” Makhachev said.
“He fell [a] good shot [in the] The last round. my plan [was] Don’t hit him inside [the] The last round because I know I’m going to win at least three or four rounds and I go to the floor, trying to give him some surrender maybe.”
Volkanowski was the biggest underdog in Sunday’s fight, and while the result may have been a lot closer than some expected, the Australian was still disappointed not to raise his hand.
“People thought it wasn’t going to be close and the like, so obviously a lot of people are still proud of where he is but I expected to go out there and win.” He said.
“I am always hard on myself, I am my harshest critic. I have to go watch the fight. Credit to him, I know it was very close.”
