UFC 294 Preview
The UFC is invading the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, October 21 for UFC 294. The main event will be a rematch for the lightweight title between champion Islam Makhachev and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Makhachev was originally scheduled for a rematch with former champion Charles Oliveira where the two previously met at UFC 280. Makhachev won by second round submission to win the title. Oliveira was forced to withdraw from UFC 294 due to injury, so Volkanovski has stepped in on 12 days’ notice for another chance to become a double champion.
Makhachev defeated Volkanovski by unanimous decision in his last fight in February at UFC 284. The decision was widely criticized as many fans and critics felt like Volkanovski won the fight. Despite the criticism of his victory, the win was Makhachev’s 12th straight and his first defense of the lightweight title.
The champion does not believe Volkanovski took this fight to win the belt. During the pre-fight press conference he said, "You don't need nothing, you just need money. Everybody knows why you come, tell the people how much more they [UFC] give you for the fight. Just make money, shut up, and go home."
He continued, "This fight everything is going to change. I want to finish him and finish all the talk about the last fight. Here everything is on my side."
The Dagestani fighter traveled to Volkanovski’s backard for their first fight and the Australian fans did not make the fight any easier on him. Now the tables have turned and Makhachev will have the home filed advantage.
Volkanovski is not worried. “He needs all the advantages he can get,” Volkanovski said. “That’s all he thinks about. I don’t need none of that. I’ve got these (hands) – that’s all I worry about. I rely on my skills – not crowds, not nothing.”
Volkanovski has stayed busy since the February loss to Makhachev. He defended the featherweight title against Yair Rodriguez winning by third round TKO at UFC 290 in July. The loss to Makhachev put an end to a 22 fight winning streak but even after the loss Volkanosvki has been widely considered the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world. His most recent win certainly helped his case, but a win over Makhachev will leave no doubt who the pound for pound king is.
The 35-year-old has a newfound confidence heading into this fight. “I’m so fresh because I didn’t have to worry about a fight camp. I didn’t have to physically and mentally exhaust myself,” said Volkanovski. “I get to go into this fresh, excited and almost have fun.”
Needless to say, the featherweight champion is excited to redeem himself. "I'm feeling good. I'm excited. That's one thing that I've taken out of all this whole thing, obviously, it's crazy. But man, it's gonna be fun. I don't think I've ever been this excited for a fight.
"Obviously you get excited, but you go through camp, and camp can be exhausting. Mentally and physically exhausting thinking about the fight the whole time. Now I don't have time for that. As soon as I heard about it I had a smile on my face and it hasn't gone away even until now."
With a win Volkanovski could become just the fifth double champion in UFC history. He has promised to stay active in both divisions should he become lightweight champion. It appears the fan-pleasing fights would be waiting for Volkanovski at lightweight if he holds the belt. Makhachev will likely call for a rematch unless he loses badly, but if Volkanovski has proven anything it is that he does not turn down fights. So, if he wins, we could be in store for one of the greatest trilogy fights in UFC history.
The co-main event of UFC 294 also experienced a fighter withdrawal due to injury. Surging middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev was originally scheduled to fight former title challenger Paulo Costa. But Costa had to undergo elbow surgery and former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has stepped in on 10 days notice. UFC president Dana White announced that this fight will serve as a title eliminator with the winner to be the next to challenge newly crowned champion Sean Strickland for the middleweight title.
Chimaev has not fought in over a year but is coming off a first round submission win over Kevin Holland at UFC 279. The win was not short of controversy and Chimaev did not prove that he is a championship caliber fighter yet, as the card needed to be shifted around due to his missing weight. Despite the mess that was UFC 279, the Russian fighter is 6-0 in the UFC and has wins at both welterweight and middleweight.
The 29-year-old was motivated by bad blood with Costa, but with Usman he has different thoughts on why he is squaring off with the former welterweight champion. “The guy comes just to make money,” Chimaev said. “It’s a lot of money put on that. I think he gets a lot of good money when somebody fights me. It’s different-level money. That’s why he’s here. Of course, he comes to win, everyone comes to a fight to win, but he already has an excuse and he’s getting paid, so I think that’s why he comes. Everyone here, a lot of guys talk about ‘My history, this belt, this s***,’ when somebody put the money out, millions—one day everyone will forget about that but the guy is going to have his money for his family. That’s why he’s here, I think.”
Many people believe that Chimaev would eventually challenge Usman for the welterweight title, and he commented on whether he is excited to be fighting Usman later after the welterweight championship has changed hands. “Of course, because since day one I get to the UFC, everyone spoke about Khamzat-Usman, Khamzat-Usman,” Chimaev said. “Our wrestling skills, our striking, all of these things. Usman is a fighter like me, but he’s the old version, I’m new, different. Like iPhones come out, like iPhone 5, I’m like, Pro, it’s different.”
Is the phenom thinking about a title shot? “I don’t think about this fight right now, I’m focused on Usman,” Chimaev said when asked about challenging Strickland. “They promised me, like I said, before Gilbert Burns, ‘If you win against this guy you’re going to fight for the title.’ Since then, wait two years, now I fight again [at UFC 279), but didn’t get the title, so I don’t know. I’m not after just a title, I go after all heads in the UFC. Smash somebody, make money, be happy. If I finish everyone, stop everyone, they have to give me all the belts.”
Usman is riding two straight losses to Leon Edwards into this fight. Before being shocked by Edwards in their second fight and losing a majority decision in the trilogy, Usman was one of the most dominant welterweights in UFC history. The 36-year-old was on a 19-fight winning streak before conceding the welterweight title at UFC 278.
The former champion thought taking this fight was a no-brainer. “I call my coaches and I’m like, ‘Hey guys, I’ve got an opportunity’. Nobody talked me out of it. I think they probably already kind of knew where I was leaning towards.
“For me, I'm in the season of just gratitude. You know, how often do you get an opportunity [like this],” Usman said.
The Nigerian went on to say, “I've been blessed with so many opportunities to be able to entertain the world, but for a highly anticipated fight like this that people care about. It's not many.
“There's a lot of fighters that fight. They have tons of fights in the UFC, and they're done. And people don't really remember, so being blessed with an opportunity like this to be able to go out and in the sense, I guess, shock the world even though it should be the other way around.
“It’s a blessing.”
There have long been talks of Usman moving up to middleweight, is now the time? “Fighters fight. So whether it’s middleweight or welterweight let's fight, if it makes sense of course," he added. "And I know a lot of people said, ‘Why would you take this fight, it doesn't make any sense for you. You're a welterweight, you’re at the top of the welterweight, why don’t you just stay there?’
“Well, like I said, that opportunity to be able to do something that's monumental. And fighters fight, we step in there and we lay it all on the line and we take big risks [for] big rewards.”
If Dana White keeps his word and this fight is in fact a title eliminator fight, there is thought dominating my mind. No one on Earth was saying a year ago that Kamaru Usman and Khamzat Chimaev would be facing off for a chance to fight Sean Strickland for the middleweight title. Regardless of who the winner is, if they are granted a title shot, the build up to that title fight will be fun to watch,
The Rest of the main card:
Light Heavyweight - #2 Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker
Middleweight - #11 Ikram Aliskerov vs. Warlley Alves
Bantamweight – Said Nurmagomedov vs. Muin Gafurov
ESPN + Prelims:
Flyweight - Tim Elliott vs. Muhammad Mokaev
Lightweight - Mohammad Yahya vs. Trevor Peek
Bantamweight - Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry
Middleweight - Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
Catchweight (159.5 lb) - Mike Breeden vs. Anshul Jubli
Featherweight - Nathaniel Wood vs. Muhammad Naimov
Catchweight (116.6 lb) - Victoria Dudakova vs. Jinh Yu Frey
Middleweight - Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Bruno Silva
