Islam Makhachev will be rematching a familiar foe at UFC 294, but not his originally scheduled opponent.
The main event of the pay-per-view event taking place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi was to be a lightweight title rematch between former champion Charles Oliveira and current titleholder Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC). However, Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC) has been forced out due to injury, and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will step in. The news was first reported by OverDogs Podcast.
UFC CEO Dana White confirmed the news at the DWCS 66 post-event news conference. According to White, Oliveira suffered an eyebrow laceration in sparring that required stitches.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL 😱
Charles Oliveira is out of next Saturday's #UFC294 main event, @AlexVolkanovski is replacing in a rematch for the Lightweight title with @MakhachevMMA
[ @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/zR3Nlqzl7P
— UFC (@ufc) October 11, 2023
As a result of the change in the marquee bout, Makhachev gets another rematch in Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC). The pair first met at UFC 284 in February, in what was Volkanovski’s bid for dual champion status. Makhachev won the main event title fight by unanimous decision, and has not fought since.
Volkanovski returned to 145 pounds for his next outing and defeated interim champion Yair Rodriguez by TKO in the third round of their title unification bout at UFC 290.
With the change, the current UFC 294 lineup includes:
- Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski – for lightweight title
- Khamzat Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Muin Gafurov vs. Said Nurmagomedov
- Tim Elliott vs. Muhammad Mokaev
- Trevor Peek vs. Mohammad Yahya
- Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry
- Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
- Mike Breeden vs. Anshul Jubli
- Muhammad Naimov vs. Nathaniel Wood
- Viktoriia Dudakova vs. Jinh Yu Frey
- Shara Magomedov vs. Bruno Silva
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.
