Alexander Volkanovski ‘definitely’ thinks he beat Islam Makhachev at UFC 284

The featherweight champion was narrowly outpointed while challenging the lightweight title holder

Alexander Volkanovski has said he ‘definitely’ thinks he won his UFC 284 title fight with Islam Makhachev, after losing a close decision to the lightweight champion.

Featherweight title holder Volkanovski was fighting on home turf in Perth, Australia as he looked to become a dual-weight champion, but the judges’ scorecards read 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 to Makhachev after the main event.

“Just watched the fight,” Volkanovski, 34, tweeted after UFC 284. “I definitely think I won [rounds] 2, 3 and 5.

“Surprised I didn’t get my hand raised! Let’s do the rematch, anywhere, anytime!”

Russian Makhachev was making his first defence of the lightweight belt that he won in November, when he submitted Charles Oliveira to follow in the footsteps of coach and childhood friend Khabib Nurmagomedov.

While Khabib was absent from Makhachev’s corner in the RAC Arena, the reigning 155lbs champion was just about able to execute his gameplan effectively enough to convince the judges that he deserved the win – although some fans and fighters felt that Volkanovski should have been declared the winner.

Volkanovski has been dominant as featherweight champion and entered UFC 284 as the UFC’s No 1 pound-for-pound fighter, also possessing the longest active win streak in the UFC at 12 fights. Meanwhile, Makhachev was ranked second in the UFC’s pound-for-pound list ahead of Saturday’s event, and he matched Volkanovski’s 12-fight winning run by beating the Australian.

Makhachev, 31, is now unbeaten since 2015, while he handed Volkanovski a first defeat in 10 years, halting the 34-year-old’s 22-fight overall win streak.

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