UFC featherweight champion Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) attempted to pursue double champion status after defending his title four times. He moved up to lightweight to challenge Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 in Perth, in what ended up being one of the most competitive fights of Makhachev’s career.
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Volkanovski pushed Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) to the brink, but ultimately lost a close decision. Even though they didn’t raise their hands, Volkanovski took many positives from that performance.
“We know how good Islam is to this day; look what it is doing,” Volkanovski said in an interview with ENGAGE. “Everyone knew that back then. He just hadn’t faced guys yet to get that kind of resume. Even though his resume was still good, it wasn’t the resume he has now. But everyone knew he was that good. And me, going up against a guy who has that style, everyone thought there was no way.
“So for me to go out and do what I did, a lot of people thought I won and just having that kind of fight, still being No. 1 pound for pound was still crazy. We broke records in Australia when you talk about numbers and gates, and PPV here in Australia. It was a huge fight, it lived up to the hype, the story, everything around it was just incredible. Even though I lost, I still think it’s probably one of the biggest moments of my career.”
Volkanovski would return to featherweight to make his fifth successful title defense against Yair Rodríguez, before getting another shot against Makhachev, this time on short notice at UFC 294. He was knocked out in the first round, prompting his return to featherweight.
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However, Volkanovski ended up suffering his second consecutive knockout loss when he was dethroned by Ilia Topuria at UFC 298. But opportunity came again when Topuria vacated his featherweight title to move up to lightweight, giving Volkanovski a fight for the vacant title against Diego Lopes. Volkanovski defeated Lopes at UFC 314 to regain his belt and defeated him a second time in their rematch at UFC 325 to retain the title.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Champion Alexander Volkanovski Reflects on Islam Makhachev’s First Loss