Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski had one of the best title fights against Islam Makhachev at UFC 284. He did not get the intended result, but he won the hearts of the MMA community with his stellar performance in his home country of Australia. There were talks regarding a potential rematch. But ‘The Great’ recently appeared in an interview and revealed that he didn’t want to wait for the rematch.

Volkanovski put on an amazing back-and-forth encounter with the lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. It was the Russian fighter’s first title defense since winning it from Charles Oliveira at UFC 280. Makhachev and Volkanovski both agreed to fight for the title in a rematch down the line. But the featherweight champion had other ideas.

Alexander Volkanovski turns down the rematch offer against Islam Makhachev

Media house ‘The Mac Life’, which is owned by former double champion Conor McGregor, recently posted a video of an interview with Volkanovski where ‘The Great’ mentioned how he wanted to approach the rematch. He said, “I wanted to fight [Makhachev] as soon as possible. That is what it was.” 

Volkanovski added, “I was in line when I said I wanted to stay busy, you know what I mean? That was the honest truth, and that was the case.” He mentioned that he is still the first in line to receive the title shot in a rematch whenever Islam Makhachev decides to come back. But Alexander Volkanovski also wants to keep himself busy inside the Octagon.

Fans react to ‘The Great’ for not wanting to wait for the rematch

Let us take a look at some reactions from fans on Twitter.

One fan lauded Volkanovski for his professionalism and claimed that busy fighters are often under-appreciated by the MMA community.

While a couple of fans believed that ‘The Great’ had no choice. Volkanovski had to fight the interim champion because the UFC had to find the undisputed champion.

One fan took a jibe at some of the Russian fighters who compete in fewer fights than someone like Alexander Volkanovski.

However, another UFC fan brought out the statistics and claimed that Islam Makhachev has competed in two more fights than ‘The Great’ since 2021.

A Twitter user claimed that believes that Volkanovski wanted to avoid another defeat in the same year.

The fans are sure that the Australian champion will lose again if they get into a rematch.

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Volkanovski is now looking forward to his fight against interim champion Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290. The fight is guaranteed to be one of the most intense of the year. Meanwhile, the news of Islam Makhachev’s return is yet to be confirmed.

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