Islam Makhachev defended his 155-pound lightweight championship by knocking out featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in the opening round at UFC 294 on Saturday.
in February was a classic, five-round affair that saw both men enjoy a lot of success. The second meeting, at UFC 294 on Saturday inside Etihad Arena, belonged solely to Makhachev.
The result was impressive, even considering Volkanovski took the fight on 11 days' notice. Makhachev was supposed to fight"I showed him the low kick, body kick then I just changed to the high kick," Makhachev said."This is what we trained the last couple months for Oliveira and nothing changed, same thing for Volkanovski. I want to say thank you to , he is a real champion. He is going to fight all five rounds and never give up. He is a real champion.
"Obviously, it was a great setup, a good kick," Volkanovski said."It hurts me. He's a great champion. What do you do? I back myself every single time. Credit to him. I just want to say to the UFC, please keep me busy."
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