UFC and management hint timeline for Islam Makhachev's return

The timeline for Islam Makhachev's next bout has seemingly been confirmed by his manager and the UFC.

Makhachev was last seen in action against Alexander Volkanovski in a highly anticipated rematch last month at UFC 294. While their first fight was very closely contested, the rematch, however, was won by the Dagestani in the very first round via TKO.

Since the fight, a lot has been said about Islam Makhachev's next title defense. It was revealed that Charles Oliveira, who was initially supposed to take on Makhachev at UFC 294 will be next in line. Now, it has been seemingly confirmed that the Dagestani will be returning in January to fight Oliveira.

UFC's senior vice president for international operations, David Shaw spoke about it during a press conference at UFC Sao Paulo and said:

"So I think the intention from Dana and the matchmakers is to make that fight but we don't have any confirmation yet nor do we know a date but we need some fights for the first few months of 2024."

Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev's manager Ali Abdelaziz took to Twitter to offer a confusing take on Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2.

"Fake news @MAKHACHEVMMA fighting Charles Oliveira in January"

Interestingly, MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported that the rematch between the UFC lightweight champion and Oliveira will go down in January.

It will be interesting to see the developments on the much-awaited fight between two lightweight stars.

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Did Islam Makhachev break his leg after his head kick against of Alexander Volkanovski?

Alexander Volkanovski was dropped as a result of a vicious head kick by Islam Makhachev which was then followed by a barrage of punches. While Makhachev secured a TKO victory, Volkanovski's teammate, Craig Jones, revealed that the UFC lightweight champion may have suffered severe damage to his leg.

During a recent episode of the B-Team Jiu Jitsu podcast, Jones suggested:

"He was actually limping on his leg. I think he might've broken his leg or something when he kicked Volk's head... His leg looked quite injured, so I said to Volk, 'Man if you ate that, you had [the fight] in the bag, he had a broken leg.' You know what I mean."

Watch the video below from 26:35: