No. 5 ranked UFC welterweight prospect, Elijah Topuria, has reached out to the division’s current champion, Alex Volkanovski, who has agreed on short notice to replace the injured Charles Oliveira and fight Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title.
“Alex, I wish you the best of luck! Take the second title so I can knock you out in January and become a double champion,” the Spanish-Georgian fighter wrote on social media.
According to the UFC’s plan, a featherweight title fight between Volkanovski and Topuria is scheduled to headline UFC 297 in Toronto on Jan. 20, but since there’s no guarantee the Australian will be ready in time for that date, the organization is reportedly considering an interim title shot between Topuria and Max Holloway.
As for the lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Alex Volkanovski, it will headline UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on October 21. In February of this year, the Australian already tried to take the championship belt away from the Russian, losing to him by unanimous decision at UFC 284 in Perth after five rounds.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/32862-topuriya-zhdet-pobedy-volkanovski-nad-makhachevym.html?rand=19907
