Islam Makhachev says facing Alexander Volkanovski at 145 lbs is "impossible"; will move up to 170 lbs on one condition
Islam Makhachev is not considering a move to 145 lbs to challenge Alexander Volkanovski for his title.
During a recent media interaction in Makhachkala, Dagestan, the reigning lightweight champion brushed off the possibility of him moving down to featherweight, citing that the weight cut would be too taxing on his body.
The Russian reasoned that such a move didn't make sense given the fact that he already cuts a good amount of weight to make the 155-pound lightweight limit:
"Cutting even more weight to fight him doesn't make sense. It'll be hard on my body. I already cut a lot of weight for my own division. And we didn't get much time to recover in Australia [and] with those conditions it'll be impossible to [do such cut]."
However, the sambo extraordinaire is willing to move up to 170 lbs under one condition; the UFC needs to give him a crack at the welterweight title:
"If the UFC calls and they says they want to give me a title shot at welterweight, I'll be happy to test myself."
Catch Islam Makhachev's comments below:
Such a matchup might not be so far fetched. Especially since welterweight champion Leon Edwards recently expressed interest in a potential showdown with the Russian during a media event for UFC 286.
Catch Leon Edwards' comments below:
Interestingly, despite securing a unanimous decision win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284, Makhachev failed to take over the Australian's pound-for-pound No.1 spot after this week's rankings shuffle.
After the fight, a few fans and fighters expressed that 'The Great' was unfairly robbed of a win at the event. Since the fight, the featherweight champion also took to social media to express his dissent with the result and called for a rematch.
Just watched the fight, I definitely think I won 2,3 and 5. Surprised I didn’t get my hand raised! Let’s do the rematch, anywhere, anytime! 👊
Daniel Cormier reasons why Alexander Volkanovski is still the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world
Daniel Cormier thinks Alexander Volkavoski did enough at UFC 284 to retain his status as the pound-for-pound champion.
During a recent episode of DC & RC, the former two-division champion opined that 'The Great' showed the world that his skills translate well into a higher weight class with his impressive performance against Islam Makhachev.
Speaking on why Volkanovski is still the pound-for-pound No.1, Cormier said:
"I also said on Sports Center after the fight, hey there is a world in which, at the end of this, Volkanovski could still be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, because pound-for-pound says, does your fighting style translate between weight classes. It showed on Saturday that his fighting style does translate between weight classes... And the new rankings came out today and guess who is still the No. 1 pound-for-pound? Alexander Volkanovski even though he lost."
Catch Daniel Cormier's comments on Alexander Volkanovski below: