Islam Makhachev, UFC lightweight champion, explained why their first fight with Alex Volkanovski turned out to be competitive.
“The first fight turned out to be competitive, but I didn’t want to talk about it so that it would look like an excuse. I fought with Oliveira and immediately started preparing for Volkanovski. The body had a hard time coping with that preparation; we prepared very hard. In the winter I trained in the mountains and then went to Australia. Acclimatization turned out to be difficult. The tournament was set for the morning, and I was unable to recover and prove myself. Arriving at the arena, I already understood that the fight would be difficult.”
Let us remember that in the first fight Makhachev won against Volkanovski by decision, and in the rematch he knocked him out.
