Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who heads the coaching staff of Islam Makhachev, commented on the news that Alexander Volkanovski will replace the injured Charles Oliveira in the upcoming title fight.
“Right now, Islam is the world champion,” the undefeated Russian said in a video posted on social media. “If someone can make 70 kilograms and the UFC calls him a contender, who cares? It doesn’t matter who it is. If King Kong can do 70 kilograms, fine – let’s get this guy in here. I said to Islam this morning – brother, it doesn’t matter, you’re the champion. Wolf, Charles, Puryear, Justin – it doesn’t matter. It was supposed to be Charles, he’s out, but we’ve beaten him before, so we don’t care.”
“They wanted us to fight Wolf again. The first fight was very good and competitive, but we know and that team knows that we won it by unanimous decision. It wasn’t a split decision, it was a unanimous decision. Yes, Wolf looked good in that fight, but he lost. He knows it, his team knows it, and the whole world knows it. If they want to put him out again, fine, no problem. Islam is almost at the weight, he’s fully focused and ready to fight. We have five days left for hard training and we will be ready for the fight in Abu Dhabi”
A few hours earlier, UFC head honcho Dana White revealed that Charles Oliveira, who was scheduled to fly out today for the upcoming fight, suffered a serious eyebrow dissection the day before and withdrew from the bout.
Recall that the light heavyweight title superfight between Islam Makhachev and Alex Volkanovski will be the main event of UFC 294, which will take place on October 21 in Abu Dhabi.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/32849-khabib-otreagiroval-na-otmenu-boya-makhacheva-i-olivejry.html?rand=19907
