UFC 294 has a new main event, featuring a rematch between featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
It’s official: Alexander Volkanovski will replace Charles Oliveira on two weeks’ notice to fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 294.
On Tuesday night (October 10, 2023), Oliveira was injured and rumors were swirling that “The Great” had been offered the position. Now everything is confirmed. Oliveira suffered a severe cut above his eye while sparring and missed the October 21 card in Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski will face a long-awaited rematch with Makhachev after a hard-fought fight at UFC 284 in February.
All of this was confirmed by UFC CEO Dana White after Tuesday night’s Contender Series finale. Announced on UFC.com.
“Yes, that’s all true,” White said before explaining what happened to Oliveira. “He had five rounds of sparring last night before he jumped on a plane today, and he had his eyebrows widened and had stitches last night. Of course this won’t allow him to go out. If we hadn’t called him, that’s another thing. We would have taken him to a plastic surgeon and had him stitched up from the inside out and operated on the right way.”
“They’re not going to call us when something happens. They’ll call us after they get stitches. But on the other hand, you don’t want to take a shot like this and take a risk. I understand the feeling of not having it.”
Did your eyes explode with the first punch? Yes, I thought we had learned our lesson about playing injured players in title fights after the Dillashaw incident in Abu Dhabi last year. But here White, after receiving a large cut above his eye, suggests that he would have sent “de Bronx” within two weeks if he could have gotten away.
So… some negative vibes were sent to Oliveira’s direction. And to be fair, there are some things to be said for sparring too hard so close to a major match, and they’re not all positive. What about Volkanovski?
“Volkanovsky’s crew, him, and Israel [Adesanya], just an absolute stud,” White said. “He jumped in and accepted the fight. It’s just a phone call away.”
White weathered his move to the majors for UFC 294 without too much anger…until he discussed how talk of the fight cancellation spread across the internet before discussing the change with his partner in Abu Dhabi.
“We would have announced it hours ago, except we didn’t wait for the people in Abu Dhabi to wake up and let us know before reporting,” he said curtly. “But the guys surrounding them in Brazil can’t be abusive. Oliveira seems to have been canceled after this came out, but it’s just part of the business.
“I wanted to speak to the people in power in Abu Dhabi before it was announced, but people can’t keep their mouths shut for some reason. They want to act like they know and make calls like this. So. Yeah.”
We’ll keep you updated on any exciting changes to UFC 294. For now, let us know what you think about Alexander the Great rushing into the match against Islam Makhachev.
Will it be the best main event ever? Or could Volkanovski come in at the last minute without proper preparation and waste his last chance to become a double champion? All you enthusiasts out there, let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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