Volk secures next fight as former rival snaps historic 14-year record
Alexander Volkanovski’s next featherweight title defence has been confirmed, on what was a massive day for the UFC that saw a long-standing record broken.
The two-time 145-pound king and Australian superstar hasn’t stepped inside the octagon since defeating Diego Lopes on home soil in February.
Alexander Volkanovski is a two-time featherweight champion. Getty
Volkanovski has been pushing to stay active as he reaches the latter stages of his stellar career and his next opponent is now finally locked in.
During the UFC 330 pay-per-view broadcast, it was revealed Volkanovski would defend the belt against Movsar Evloev on October 25 (AEST) in Abu Dhabi.
The fight will main event a blockbuster card, which also features a bantamweight title rematch between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili.
While the excitement is already building for UFC 333 later in the year, there were another two massive title clashes on Sunday afternoon (AEST) in Philadelphia.
The ever-dominant Islam Makhachev, who is the sport’s top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter, made a successful first defence of his welterweight title with a clinical unanimous decision victory over Ian Machado Garry.
Makhachev, the former lightweight king who twice defeated Volkanovski in 2023 before making the jump to welterweight last year, staved off a tough rival and some nervous moments across five rounds in the City of Brotherly Love.
Loud chants of “f--k you Garry” started just minutes into the fight, with the crowd firmly behind the Russian champion against his maligned Irish opponent.
The champ scored a knockdown with a brutal head kick in the second round and piled on the pressure from there, but Garry managed to survive.
Makhachev struggled to put Garry away however and was left bloodied by the end of the fourth round, but had done enough to get the nod from the judges.
The official result was 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 for Makhachev, who broke Anderson Silva’s record for most UFC victories in a row that had stood for 14 years.
The win over Garry was the 17th-straight for the imposing Mackhachev.
“Ian is a great fighter, good man and I respect him, he gave me a hard time but I still prove [myself] every fight,” the 34-year-old MMA legend said.
“Thank you to all the people who come and support me.”
Islam Makhachev knocks down Ian Machado Garry. Getty
Makhachev (29-1) is widely regarded as one of MMA’s greatest-ever fighters and the victory over Garry, while tough at times, only further cements it.
In the co-main event, women’s strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern produced a clinical performance over challenger Gillian Robertson.
Dern, who won the vacant belt last year, dictated terms for four of the five rounds against Robertson, who had no answers for the Brazilian-American star.
The judges scored it 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 in favour of Dern, who celebrated with her young daughter Moa inside the cage after the fight.
“You showed dominance tonight and that there are levels to this game,” long-time UFC commentator Joe Rogan said while interviewing Dern.
