Immediately after Charles Oliveira withdrew from UFC 294 due to injury, BTC announced the replacement was Alexander Volkanovski. This is the second time Volk has met Makhachev within half a year. Notably, the Australian boxer accepted the quote only 12 days before the competition.
Sharing about this decision, the former hairy champion said: “The organizers contacted and asked if I could play at UFC 294. Charles seemed to be unable to play.
I asked my manager and answered, “I guess we can. Soon after, I picked up the phone to gather the team to prepare the exercises for the next match. They were present for just a few hours to support me. I was happy for that and we only had 12 days to prepare.”
When asked about the family reaction about the match, Volk said: “I and my wife look at each other and smile. I don't understand why but maybe my wife knows it's time for me to come back.”
The focal match of UFC 294 event is the match for the fur belt between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. Volk wishes to be corrected after his first and only defeat at UFC up to the present time with Islam Makhachev himself.
Earlier, Volkanovski was planned for the battle of belt protection in January 2024 at UFC 297 with Ilia Topuria. This match came faster than expected, Volkanovski was very excited about this match. He claimed to defeat Islam Makhachev, even a victory without points.