Less than a month after the lightweights faced off inside the octagon, the title fight between new champ Islam Makhachev and featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski is officially set.
Promotional officials revealed on Saturday that the champion vs. champion showdown will headline UFC 284, which takes place Feb. 12 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia (due to the time difference, the pay-per-view card will air stateside on Feb. 11).
In October, Makhachev captured the title with a dominant second-round submission of Charles Oliveira at UFC 280, which was the 11th straight victory for the 31-year-old Dagestani fighter. Following the biggest victory of his career, Makhachev, along with his longtime training partner and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov, called out Volkanovski. That led the 145-pound champ to enter the cage and accept the fight. Volkanovski then went face-to-face with Makhachev.
Volkanovski, the No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, went 2-0 in 2022 with two remarkable title defenses in fights against Chan Sung Jung in April at UFC 273 and Max Holloway at UFC 276 in July. “The Great” has won 22 straight bouts, including all 12 of his octagon appearances.
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