Tag: UFC 294

Michael Bisping backs Charles Oliveira’s decision to withdraw from UFC 294: ‘You can’t compete like that’

Michael Bisping thinks Charles Oliveira made the right decision to pull out of UFC 294.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] made the right decision to pull out of UFC 294.

Oliveira was forced out of his title-fight rematch against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) next Saturday, Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi due to a cut. Makhachev will now defend his belt against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Bisping understands why Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) opted to withdraw, saying that the risk of competing with nasty gash on his eyebrow could have cost him in the fight.

“If it is a bad cut two, three weeks away, two and a half weeks, yeah listen, you can’t compete like that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “You can compete with injuries, but a huge cut on the eye, I mean, that’s going to be bad. It’s going to open up straight away and that’s going to be it. Or maybe he even gets out there and the UFC pull him from the fight straight away.”

Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) will step in on less than two weeks’ notice for his title-fight rematch. “The Great” was eager to run things back with Makhachev after pushing him to the brink in their first fight at UFC 284, and will now get that opportunity.

Bisping thinks the lack of time to prepare makes it a tall order for Volkanovski. Makhachev thinks Volkanovski has nothing to lose, but Bisping disagrees.

“The danger here for Volkanovski is that if he does lose, and one has got to imagine, let’s be honest, that Islam’s going to be a huge favorite,” Bisping said. “Not only has he beaten him once, not only is he the bigger guy, but this is on two and a half weeks’ notice.

“Regardless of how professional Volkanovski is – because he is. He’s always training. The man’s an athlete. He takes his job very, very seriously. Still, two and a half weeks, that’s not ideal. But the real risk is that if he loses to Islam twice in a row, then he ain’t going to get another shot. That’s the real risk here. That is what’s at stake.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.

Bo Nickal ‘a little disappointed’ UFC didn’t call to fight Khamzat Chimaev on short notice at UFC 294

Bo Nickal was bummed out he didn’t get the chance to fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

[autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] wishes he would’ve gotten the call to fight  [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] at UFC 294. Unfortunately for him, Kamaru Usman took that spot.

The former UFC welterweight champion will be moving up a weight class to fight Chimaev on 10 days notice at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21. Usman is replacing Brazil’s Paulo Costa, who had to withdraw from the fight with Khamzat due to an infection on his elbow.

Nickal wanted the fight and is a bit upset he wasn’t considered.

“I was a little disappointed they didn’t ask me,” Nickal said on his YouTube channel. “They didn’t ask me to step in there. I was expecting at least an ask like, ‘Hey, you want to do this?’ But no, just nothing from the UFC. It is what it is.

“I’m guessing they didn’t want me to roll into Abu Dhabi on like 10 days’ notice and smash their boy in front of his home crowd. That’s a fight that needs to have proper build up. I get that.”

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As far as the fight itself, Nickal expects Usman to put on a competitive fight, even though it may seem that the cards are stacked against him.

“I think it will be competitive based on his last fight against Burns,” Nickal said. “I do think he overlooked Burns, but also Usman, he’s pretty good, a little older. … For Usman, not too much upside, but I think for Usman, he’s already been a champ and defended his belt and then just lost back to back, so he’s not in a great position. But yeah, it should be a good fight.”

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Israel Adesanya: Alexander Volkanovski is going to stop Islam Makhachev at UFC 294

Israel Adesanya believes no judges will be needed to crown a new two-division champion at UFC 294.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] is backing his teammate [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] all the way, even as he faces arguably his toughest career test for the second time.

Volkanovski, champion at 145 pounds, is moving up a weight class to fight UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev again on just 11 days notice in the main event of UFC 294 on Oct. 21. This came about after Makhachev’s original opponent Charles Oliveira was forced to withdraw from the matchup due to injury.

On top of moving up a weight class and fighting a champion on short notice, Volkanovski will also be traveling to Abu Dhabi, which has historically been a supportive region for Makhachev.

Yet, Adesanya is confident that not only will Volkanovski get his hand raised, but also stop Makhachev.

“I felt Volk beat him in the first time, I thought so, the first time,” Adesanya told The Rock. “As the fight progressed, you can see Volkanovski grow more confident and be like, ‘This is the way he’s supposed to beat me, right? Come on.’ This time, short notice, Volk has nothing to lose. He’s been in the gym. He’s ready.

“I feel like he’s going to stop him on this one. But again, this is me, I’m biased. If I could bet, which I’m not allowed to, if I could, I know who I’m putting my money on.”

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Volkanovski underwent arm surgery in mid-July and at the time was given six weeks of rehab. This was of course after Volkanovski’s  TKO win over Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 in Las Vegas. It was his first fight since losing a close, unanimous decision to Makhachev in February at UFC 284.

On the other hand, Makhachev has yet to fight since defeating Volkanovski in their first meeting in Australia at UFC 284. He won the title in October 2022 by submitting Charles Oliveira, and has yet to defend against an established title contender in the weight class.

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Islam Makhachev’s coach expects Alexander Volkanovski to take more chances in UFC 294 rematch

Javier Mendez thinks Alexander Volkanovski will be less cautious in his rematch vs. Islam Makhachev.

Javier Mendez thinks [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] will be less cautious in his rematch vs. [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag].

With Charles Oliveira forced out due to a cut, lightweight champion Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) will now defend his belt against featherweight champion Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) next Saturday, Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski will step in on less than two weeks’ notice for the title-fight rematch.

Volkanovski gave Makhachev a very competitive fight at UFC 284 in February, finishing off the fight in top position. Makhachev won by unanimous decision, but Volkanovski was able to fend off a good portion of Makhachev’s grappling, which makes Mendez think he will be more aggressive this time around.

“He’s going to do more,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “He’s going to take chances. He’s going to take more chances than last time. He’s not going to be worried about the takedowns, because he’s obviously survived the ground last time, and he also did his best work on the ground, not in the standup. So he’s not going to be afraid of anything. And that’s the one thing I feel he’s going to do, is he’s going to come, and he’s going to come throwing.

“He’s not going to be too cautious. He’s just going to come because he feels he can handle whatever it is when he has to throw. But we’ll see. I mean, you can feel whatever you want to feel, but when you’re in there, it’s not what I think, it’s not what you think, it’s not what anybody thinks, it’s what these two are going to do. And can they handle it? I’m saying yes, but who knows.”

Considering that Makhachev dominated Oliveira at UFC 280, Mendez admits he wasn’t too excited for that rematch when it was announced.

“For me, 100 percent,” Mendez said on Volkanovski being a better fight. “And for the fans, I think so too. For the UFC, I think they had a great main event. Now they’ve got a way better main event. They’ve got, in my opinion, the all-time greatest rivalry in the champion vs. champion UFC history.”

Mendez always wanted the Volkanovski rematch so Makhachev can silence any doubters who claim that he lost the fight.

“I was kind of thinking, did I wish this to happen or something? Because I’m the one that was talking about, for me, this is the fight that I think needs to happen,” Mendez said. “Because, I wanted this fight for me personally. Not for Islam. Islam will fight anybody. But I wanted this one, for me. Because I felt that there was unfinished business. Not that I was thinking, ‘Oh, we didn’t win.’ We did win. And we won clearly, in my eyes. We won clearly.

“And I think in everybody’s eyes, when they watch it, turn the volume off, watch the fight and you’ll see that Islam won the majority of every round. And it wasn’t for the last 45 seconds of the fifth round, he definitely lost that one. But other than that (he won). But still, there’s too much, you know, ‘No this, no that.’ So, I just want clarity. I want clarity. And Islam deserves, in my opinion, to be pound-for-pound No. 1. And this will justify that.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.

Dana White: Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 will be title eliminator

In nine days, the UFC middleweight division will have a solidified title challenger.

In nine days, the UFC middleweight division will have a solidified title challenger.

According to UFC CEO Dana White, the winner of the UFC 294 co-main event Oct. 21 between [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] and [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] will receive a crack at the 185-pound championship gold. Yahoo Sports first reported the news Wednesday and White confirmed in an interview Thursday with The Pat McAfee Show.

“That is an absolute fact,” White said. “The fact that these guys are taking this fight on short notice, (the winner) will get the next shot at the title barring injuries and other things that can possibly happen.”

Usman (20-3 MMA, 15-2 UFC) stepped in for the injured Paulo Costa on Thursday, just 10 days prior to the scheduled fight vs. Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).

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Usman, 36, moves up to middleweight following back-to-back welterweight title fight losses to current champion Leon Edwards. Prior to the consecutive losses, Usman reigned longly over the 170-pound division and racked up five title defenses. He has not competed since UFC 286 in March.

Chimaev, 29, has not fought for even longer. His most recent win was vs. Kevin Holland at UFC 279 in September. Chimaev missed weight before the bout. After some discussion between his team and the UFC brass, Chimaev ultimately elected to move up to middleweight, where he already has two wins in the UFC.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.

Alexander Volkanovski aims to shock the world vs. Islam Makhachev: If anyone can do it ‘off the couch,’ it’s me

Alexander Volkanovski thinks all the pressure is on Islam Makhachev ahead of their title-fight rematch.

[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] thinks all the pressure is on [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] ahead of their title-fight rematch.

After Charles Oliveira was forced out due to a cut, featherweight champion Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) will step in on less than two weeks’ notice to challenge lightweight champion Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) next Saturday, Oct. 21 at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.

Volkanovski is coming off recent hand surgery, but “The Great” relishes the opportunity to step up big.

“This is obviously a pretty crazy thing to do,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “There’s not many fighters out there that probably would do this, especially in my position, but I always say that I will do these things. I am that guy that will do any time, anywhere, any weight, whatever it is. This is an opportunity to prove that once again.”

Volkanovski was able to give Makhachev a stern test in their title fight at UFC 284, but ultimately fell short in a unanimous decision loss. He rebounded with a finish over Yair Rodriguez in July, and was prepping for the possibility of defending his belt vs. Ilia Topuria in January.

But Volkanovski has not been deep in training camp.

“Would I prefer a better camp? Of course. Everyone would,” Volkanovski said. “You know what I’m like with my preparation. I like to make sure. But I’m the man for the job. If anyone can do it, if anyone can do this on 12 days’ notice, off the couch, as they would say, it’s me.

“I get to go and shock the world in 11 days or something like that, so it’s pretty crazy. Luckily, I’m always training. Have I been on holidays? Yeah. Have I had a couple of drinks here and there? Yeah, I have. But I guess that makes me feel a little fresher. That’s why I’m really excited. It’s a bit different. I don’t feel worn out.”

Although the short-notice nature of the fight isn’t ideal, Volkanovski is grateful that he will get his initial wish of an immediate rematch. Just like Makhachev said, Volkanovski feels he doesn’t have too much to lose.

“I didn’t want to wait, and now I don’t have to wait at all,” Volkanovski said. “So, it’s pretty crazy but I think it’s all meant to be. This just adds to the story. Even that close fight we had, this just adds to the story. Me going over there to Abu Dhabi, him with a full camp, all of this stuff. People are going to think I’m crazy for doing this, but I get to shock the world. I can’t wait to go out there and do it. That fight made me a better fighter anyway.

“Honestly, my training after that and my takedown defense, all that, my scrambling ability, the way I understand the ground. I’ve always had that but I learned so much from that fight, and I carried that through in obviously my last camp and I carried that through after. … Let’s go out and finish this guy. No pressure on me, baby. No pressure at all. All the pressure’s on him. I’m coming off the couch. You better do something about it.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.

Islam Makhachev not surprised Alexander Volkanovski stepped in at UFC 294: ‘He don’t put his belt, he just make money’

Islam Makhachev thinks Alexander Volkanovski has nothing to lose by stepping in on short notice at UFC 294.

[autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] has nothing to lose by stepping in on short notice at UFC 294.

Lightweight champion Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) was scheduled to defend his belt against Charles Oliveira next Saturday, Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi, but Oliveira was forced out due to a cut. As a result, featherweight champion Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) will step in on short notice for his title-fight rematch.

Makhachev expected to face top contender Mateusz Gamrot, who will weigh in as a backup for the title fight. Although Volkanovski taking the fight caught many by surprise, Makhachev understands why he did it.

“I thought they will give me Gamrot, but I heard Gamrot didn’t get this fight,” Makhachev told TSN. “But when they said it’s going to be Volkanovski, it’s not a big surprise for me because this guy, what (does) he lose? He take fight on 10 days’ short notice, he will come, he don’t put his belt (on the line), he just make money. That’s it.”

Volkanovski took Makhachev to the brink in their title fight at UFC 284 in February, putting the champion in unfamiliar territory towards the end of the fight. Makhachev won the fight by unanimous decision, but many argued that Volkanovski won.

Makhachev is ready to put those doubts to rest when they run things back.

“Honestly, I’m happy because after the last fight, we have many questions,” Makhachev said on rematching Volkanovski. “But all answers are going to be in Abu Dhabi inshallah.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.

Paulo Costa out, former champion Kamaru Usman steps in to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294

In another huge shakeup days before UFC 294, Kamaru Usman has stepped up to replace Paulo Costa to face Khamzat Chimaev.

Less than 24 hours after finding a huge replacement for the UFC 294 main event, the promotion has once again pulled off a marquee short-notice change for the co-feature bout.

[autotag]Paulo Costa[/autotag] was originally scheduled to compete against [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] in the co-feature of the pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi, but will not be medically cleared to compete due to a staph infection. Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will remain on the card, and will now face former welterweight champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] who is stepping up on 10 days’ notice for the middleweight bout.

UFC CEO Dana White officially announced the new matchup Wednesday on social media.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyRYwhMyda0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Usman, 36, moves up to middleweight following back-to-back welterweight title fight losses to current champion Leon Edwards. Prior to the consecutive losses, Usman (20-3 MMA, 15-2 UFC) reigned longly over the 170-pound division and racked up five title defenses. He has not competed since UFC 286 in March.

Chimaev, 29, has not fought for even longer. His most recent win was vs. Kevin Holland at UFC 279 in September. Chimaev missed weight before the bout. After some discussion between his team and the UFC brass, Chimaev ultimately elected to move up to middleweight, where he already has two wins in the UFC.

Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), who is in Abu Dhabi, also revealed in a since-deleted social media post that he will have to undergo a second elbow procedure, just weeks after he had an initial one for a right arm bursa.

I am doing everything in my power to fight gourmet Chen Chen here in Abu Dhabi. Possible and impossible. The shit is that Staphylococcus infection is no joke, I had it in Brazil 8 weeks ago and took antibiotics for 10 days to kill it. It seemed resolved so I came to Abudhabi but it came back worse than before. 5 weeks before the fight there was necessarily surgery to clean everything and take another 14 days of antibiotics. I told them to let me fight because I’m extremely well conditioned. Even though I used 1 arm to train for 14 days until I had 10 stitches removed in my right elbow, the doctors were worried about all the anesthesia and medication I was taking, but they gave me a chance and I did my best to overcome myself, training everything without my right arm., and you know what, I was happy just to fight and do something that seemed crazy possible. Now the doctors came and told me that it was necessary to REOPEN a smaller place because the bacteria was still there and had developed resistance. After the update, there is no way to release doctors for fight 21
My team keeps it clear since first moment with UFC all these things and the peoples from UFC gave me all support, they tried their best as well paying for surgery and everything here in abudhabi, thanks UFC and whole staff for support.
For those whom said I pulled out go f*ck u self. I never pulled out, I just didn’t agreed to fights that I NEVER signed up for and neither miss weight we both agreed 205.
I need 3 weeks to be cleared in doctors opinion. I just wait this fight the entire year, so I hope to fight before the end of 2023. See u 🙌🧃

The co-main event switch-up comes less than 24 hours after White announced the previously scheduled main event between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira was off and that Alexander Volkanovski would replace Oliveira, who suffered a cut in training Monday.

With the change, the UFC 294 fight card includes:

  • Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski – for lightweight title
  • Kamaru Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev
  • Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker
  • Ikram Aliskerov vs. Nassourdine Imavov
  • Muin Gafurov vs. Said Nurmagomedov
  • Tim Elliott vs. Muhammad Mokaev
  • Trevor Peek vs. Mohammad Yahya
  • Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry
  • Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
  • Mike Breeden vs. Anshul Jubli
  • Muhammad Naimov vs. Nathaniel Wood
  • Viktoriia Dudakova vs. Jinh Yu Frey
  • Shara Magomedov vs. Bruno Silva

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.

Khabib Nurmagomedov: Alexander Volkanovski looked good vs. Islam Makhachev, but ‘all the world knows he lose’

Khabib Nurmagomedov says it never mattered who Islam Makhachev fought at UFC 294 – he’s ready to defend his title.

[autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] believes UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] convincingly beat [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] in their first fight.

Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) retained his title in a unanimous decision win over featherweight champion Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) this past February at UFC 284, a fight Volkanovski thought he won.

Makhachev was scheduled to face Charles Oliveira at UFC 294 next Saturday, Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi, but it was revealed Tuesday that Oliveira was forced out due to a cut. As a result, Volkanovski will step in on short notice for his title-fight rematch.

According to Nurmagomedov, Makhachev has been ready to defend his throne regardless of the opponent.

“Islam is a world champion right now,” Nurmagomedov said on his Instagram (h/t Anatomy of a Fighter). “If somebody can make 155 and UFC says this guy is a contender, who cares? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who. If King Kong can make 155, OK, bring this guy here. It doesn’t matter. I told Islam today morning, ‘Brother, it doesn’t matter. You’re the world champion.’ Volk, Charles, (Dustin) Poirier, Justin (Gaethje), it doesn’t matter. It’s supposed to be Charles, OK. He pulled out, but we already beat him, and we don’t care about this.

“If they want Volk again, first fight was very good, very competitive fight, but we know and their team knows we win unanimous decision. It was not even split decision. It was unanimous decision. Yes, Volk was looking good in that fight, but he lose, and he knows, his team knows, and all the world knows he lose. OK, they want to bring him again, bring him again. We here. Islam almost on weight, on point, he’s ready to go. We have five more hard days for training, and we ready for Abu Dhabi.”

Volkanovski had Makhachev in unfamiliar territory at the end of their fight after dropping him late in Round 5 and winding up in top position. Makhachev hasn’t competed since, but Volkanovski went on to finish Yair Rodriguez to notch his fifth title defense at UFC 290 in July.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.

Photos: Charles Oliveira shows nasty cut that canceled UFC 294 main event vs. Islam Makhachev

Following his UFC 294 withdrawal, Charles Oliveira shared photos of a leaking eyebrow gash that caused Islam Makhachev cancellation.

[autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] suffered a nasty laceration that forced him out of the UFC 294 main event vs. Islam Makhachev, and there are pictures.

Shortly after UFC CEO Dana White confirmed Alexander Volkanovski stepped in, Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) shared a pair of images of the gash, as well as a brief apology video where he sported a bandage on his left brow.

“Sorry to everyone but you know everything,” Oliveira wrote in Portuguese.

White indicated the laceration took place Tuesday, on the eve of Oliveira’s flight to Yas Island, Abu Dhabi for his Oct. 21 title rematch. White indicated Oliveira’s team tried to fix the problem through their own connections rather than the UFC’s, which may have been a bad choice.

“They didn’t call us,” White said Tuesday at a DWCS 66 post-fight news conference. “We would’ve had him go to a plastic surgeon. They would’ve sewed it from the inside-out. You know, get that thing done the right way. These guys never call us like they should when something happens. They call us after they get it stitched up. But on the flip side, too, I could see him not wanting to risk it, getting a shot like this.”

Oliveira, 33, is 12-1 in his most recent 13 fights, with the lone loss against Makhachev at UFC 280 in October 2022. Oliveira is a former champion with wins over Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and Beneil Dariush among others.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.