“He can’t fight in January – he should take a break,” MMA Fighting quoted the Russian as saying. “He has a big cut above his eye and he missed a very good leg kick – that’s why he needs a rest. One hundred percent.”
“If he’s smart, if his team is smart, he’ll rest for a couple months because I didn’t choke him and I didn’t finish him with a body kick. It was a leg kick to the head, and it’s not just his coach and his team that has to make the decision, but also his doctor.”
A featherweight title fight between Alex Volkanovski and Elijah Topuria was supposed to headline UFC 297 in Toronto on Jan. 20, but a failed fight with Makhachev, which the Australian accepted on short notice, will likely adjust that scenario.
In the event of a failed fight for Volkanovski, the organization reportedly has a backup plan ready to go, with Max Holloway and Elijah Topuria playing for the interim UFC featherweight title in the main event of the numbered Canadian event.