"Obviously someone was struggling" - Alexander Volkanovski reveals the UFC wanted to know his weight status "pretty late last night"
Alexander Volkanovski won't have to step in as a replacement for the UFC 280 headliner as both Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev successfully made weight. However, Volkanovski recently revealed that the UFC inquired about his weight status late last night.
Volkanovski claims to have only heard about it this morning as he was asleep when the call came. However, the UFC featherweight champion believes that the UFC asking about his weight status means that either Oliveira or Makhachev was probably struggling to make weight.
'The Great' said in an interview with BT Sport:
"Well, without giving too much away... We were asked pretty late last night, 'How's Alex doing?' So obviously someone was struggling a bit. But I was asleep when that happened, I heard about it this morning. But, all good."
Watch Alexander Volkanovski's interview with BT Sport below:
The Featherweight Champ @alexvolkanovski says his team were still asked 'late last night' if his 155lbs target was still on course 👀
#UFC280 | Saturday, 7PM | BT Sport Box Office https://t.co/BKIYQKjOxz
There were some doubts about Charles Oliveira making weight for UFC 280 considering the weight-missing fiasco ahead of his last fight against Justin Gaethje.
However, 'do Bronx' comfortably tipped the scale at 154.5lbs for UFC 280 as did his scheduled opponent Makhachev. Meanwhile, Volkanovski, the back-up fighter for the UFC 280 main event, weighed in at an even 155lbs.
Both Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev are open to fighting Alexander Volkanovski in the future
Alexander Volkanovski is eyeing a move up to lightweight, having arguably wiped out the entire featherweight division. While 'The Great' might not be making a double-champion bid just yet, he certainly has the option wide open.
Both Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev have expressed interest in a potential future clash against Volkanovski. Oliveira, in fact, wants back-to-back outings against the featherweight champ if he beats Makhachev at UFC 280.
The Brazilian hopes to defend his lightweight title against 'The Great' and then drop down to featherweight with the Australian's title on the line.
Makhachev is also open to a future clash against Volkanovski in Australia. The Dagestani said during the UFC 280 media day:
"Why not? Yes. I went to Australia one time. We can go again. Yeah, this is gonna be a good fight. Always when the champion from other divisions they fight with other champions, it’s a big, big fight and very interesting fight for all the fans.”
Watch Islam Makhachev's appearance at the UFC 280 media day scrum below: