- Alexander Volkanovski insists he is a backup fighter for Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira at UFC 280
- The UFC’s P4P king has gone undefeated in all of his fights under the promotion
At UFC 274, it can be recalled that Charles Oliveira got stripped of his lightweight belt due to a controversial weight miss. Assuming the same thing might, or something else happens at UFC 280, reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski decided to step up as a backup fighter.
Volk to save the day
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Volk confirmed that he will be in Abu Dhabi next week “to make weight” as he’s already “locked in” to be a backup for either Oliveira or Islam Makhachev. Volkanovski added that he just had to get cleared from his hand injury and he certainly did.
“We’re locked in as a backup fighter,” Volkanovski announced. “I’ve been calling it, I said I wanted it, just had to make sure the hand was all good, so we’re all good. We’re locked in, and we got the clearance to fight… The UFC is on board, everyone is on board, so I’ll be at UFC 280 to make weight, and yeah, looking forward to it. We’ll see what happens. If someone doesn’t make it, I’m there to save the day. If not, at least I’m locked in as the next guy to fight for that lightweight title, and that’s that.”
Chasing history
The featherweight champ had just ended his rivalry with Max Holloway by beating “Blessed” in all of their three fights. Volk’s latest win over Holloway happened at UFC 276 in July. Since then, “The Great” has been linked to an array of big-name fighters from different divisions, including returning former double-champion Henry Cejudo.
As things stand, Volkanovski is the UFC’s pound-for-pound king after having gone unbeaten in his all 12 trips to the octagon. To date, “The Great” is on an incredible 23-fight winning streak and is seemingly looking to make history by opting to be a backup fighter for the upcoming UFC lightweight title bout.
Prior to Volkanovski, No. 6 lightweight contender Beneil Dariush previously said he has been told he will also be a backup fighter for UFC 280’s main event.
UFC 280 is set to take place on Oct. 22 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. In the main event, Oliveira will try to reclaim his throne against the undefeated rising star Makhachev.
