Islam Makhachev warns Alexander Volkanovski from making "excuse" ahead of rematch at UFC 294

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev's title rematch against Charles Oliveira was replaced by another title rematch against Alexander Volkanovski.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the matchup earlier today with Oliveira pulling out due to a nasty cut suffered to the eyebrow in training. Makhachev will now headline UFC 294 against the man he fought in his first title defense.

Makhachev echoed his respect for Volkanovski for taking the fight on short notice. However, he also warned him to not use this as an excuse after the fight in the event of a loss. He said:

"Respect for taking this fight on short notice Alex, but don’t use it as an excuse after the fight #ufc294 #round2"

Check out his post below on X:

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Coach Javier Mendez confident Islam Makhachev will do better against Alexander Volkanovski

Islam Makhachev's last outing against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 earlier in the year was a tough battle.

Makhachev faced the most difficult challenge of his career and was dominated in phases by the featherweight king. He managed to prevail on the judges' scorecards but did not do enough to topple 'The Great' at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.

Coach Javier Mendez spoke to Helen Yee on her YouTube channel prior to Volkanovski replacing Oliveira and listed it as a fight that he wants to see in the future. Mendez said:

"I do want Islam to go after what he wants, the champ-champ status. But I also know that there's also one fight that we'd all like to see again, after hopefully being successful with Oliveira's fight. But you've got Gaethje, and you've got Alex [Volkanovski]. And Colby just came into the picture."

Mendez also shed light on Islam Makhachev's double champ aspirations and stated confidently that Makhachev will perform significantly better in a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski. He said:

"So in a perfect world, what I want is what Islam wants, 'cause he wants champ-champ status. So Colby would be the one I would pick, only because of that reason. But if you're asking me the one I really want back, I want to go with Alex, because I know Islam will do much better."

Check out Javier Mendez's comments below on YouTube [4:27]: