Alexander Volkanovski confirms he will be the backup fighter to UFC 280 main event between Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev
The UFC Featherweight champion is officially cleared from his injured hand and will be the backup fighter if anything goes wrong at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.
On Monday, Alexander Volkanovski revealed that his doctor has cleared him to return to action after suffering a hand injury in his five-round decision win over Max Holloway in July. As a result, Volkanovski will now fly to Abu Dhabi where he will serve as the official backup for the lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev, which serves as the main event.
“We’re locked in as the backup fighter,” Volkanovski said. “I’ve been calling for it, I said I wanted it. I just had to make sure the hand was all good. We’re all good, got the clearance to fight. The UFC’s on board, everyone’s on board so I’ll be at UFC 280 to make weight and looking forward to it.”
Volkanovski has been calling for an opportunity to move up to the lightweight division to challenge for the title and it appears that is definitely his plan now that he’s set as the backup fighter for UFC 280.
“Let’s see what happens,” Volkanovski said. “If someone doesn’t make it, I’m there to save the day. If not, at least I’m locked in as the next guy to fight for that lightweight title and that’s that.”
As part of the process for a backup fighter, Volkanovski will weigh in along with all of the other athletes in Abu Dhabi and he’ll be required to make 155 pounds so he could potentially replace one of the fighters in the lightweight title fight.
From the sound of things, Volkanovski plans on hitting the scale and then turning his full attention to the lightweight division for the immediate future.
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