Russian champ Makhachev inks deal to fight UFC pound-for-pound king

Islam Makhachev will defend his title against Alexander Volkanovski in Australia next year

Russian star Islam Makhachev’s first defense of the 155lbs title he won in Abu Dhabi last month will come against the longtime UFC featherweight champion and top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter on the UFC roster, Alexander Volkanovski, it was revealed late on Saturday.

Makhachev, a longtime training partner of UFC icon Khabib Nurmagomedov, made good on the lofty expectations which have been placed upon him since he first set foot in a UFC cage when he submitted former champion Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant UFC lightweight title in the UFC 280 main event – snapping the Brazilian submission artist’s 11-fight win streak in the process.

Afterwards, a celebrating Makhachev was greeted in the Octagon by Volkanovksi, the former Australian rugby player who has risen to become one of his generation’s most dominant mixed martial arts fighters, as evidenced by a 25-1 career record during which he has gone almost a decade without experiencing defeat.

The LW belt & P4P status are