UFC 284: Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski Announced
Two champions will clash in the headliner bout of UFC 284 with 155 lbs title, #1 Pound for Pound status and winning streaks on the line.
UFC has announced that Islam Makhachev will defend UFC Lightweight Championship against Australian Native and UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski on February 12, 2023.
Makhachev won the lightweight title at UFC 280 PPV last month by defeating Charles Oliveira via submission. Volkanovski was the back-up fighter for that title fight and even weighed in before the event. After his win at UFC 280, Makhachev and his coach Khabib Nurmagamedov were quick to call out Volkanovski to defend the title against him in Perth.
Islam Makhachev is currently on an 11-fights winning streak after his only loss in career at his UFC debuts. His last 3 wins have come against Dan Hooker(UFC 267), Bobby Green(Fight Night main event), and Oliveira(UFC 280). All of his previous 5 fights have ended in a knockout or submission.
Volkanovski is also on 12 fights winning streak since joining UFC while his overall winning streak stretches to 22 fights. He won the featherweight title at UFC 245 in 2019 by defeating Max Halloway and has defended it 4 times since then against Halloway(twice), Brian Ortega and Chang Sung Jung. His last defense came at UFC 276 PPV on July 2.
While he will be taking up his first lightweight fight in UFC, Volkanovski has previously fought both at lightweight and welterweight in Australia.
In UFC Rankings, Volkanovski is ranked at #1 in Pound for Pound while Makhachev holds #3 spot after middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. While Adesanya might take the #1 spot in P4P if he wins at UFC 281, a win for either Volkanovski or Makhachev would surely propel them to #1 spot.
UFC 284 PPV will take place at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, on February 11, 2023(Febuary 12 Local Time). Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa middleweight bout is also confirmed for the main card.