Alexander Volkanovski to serve as back-up fighter for Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev’s UFC title bout

Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will step in if either of the lightweights cannot fight

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has said he will serve as the back-up fighter for the main event of UFC 280, which is set to see Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev clash for the vacant lightweight title.

Volkanovski, considered by many to be the UFC’s pound-for-pound king, has expressed a desire this year to move up a weight class in a bid to become a dual-weight champion. The Australian may get his chance on 22 October, if either Oliveira or Makhachev is unable to compete in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s Official, I’m the back up fighter for the Light Weight title! See you all in Abu Dhabi,” Volkanovski tweeted on Monday (10 October).

The Australian has only just recovered from a hand injury that he suffered in his last fight, a comprehensive decision win against Max Holloway in July. The result marked Volkanovski’s third victory over the man he dethroned in 2019 and extended the 34-year-old’s win streak to a remarkable 22 fights.

Meanwhile, Oliveira was forced to vacate the lightweight belt in May, after narrowly missing weight ahead of his scheduled title defence against Justin Gaethje, whom the Brazilian submitted one day later. In doing so, Oliveira established himself as the official No1 contender at 155lbs, while extending his win streak to 11 and improving his records for most finishes and most submissions in UFC history.

Makhachev has won 10 fights in a row and has long been seen by many fans as lightweight champion in waiting – a spiritual successor of sorts to Khabib Nurmagomedov, his childhood friend and Oliveira’s predecessor as 155lbs title holder.

Prior to the weight-cut controversy that saw Oliveira stripped of the UFC lightweight title, the 32-year-old had recorded one successful defence of the gold, submitting Dustin Poirier in December. Oliveira initially became champion last May, knocking out Michael Chandler to claim the belt vacated by Khabib upon the Russian’s retirement in late 2020.