Islam Makhachev faced Alex Volkanovski at UFC 284 in Australia. The Volkanovski team reportedly has evidence of IV use – which they claim to have passed on to appropriate authorities.
While Dan Hooker claims he’s being harassed over these allegations by USADA, Makhachev team denied the reports.
One interesting tidbit is that UFC wants Makhachev to be in the main event of an Abu Dhabi set card in October of 2023. This is surprising because Makhachev could be ready for an event as early as this summer.
During an appearance on the Weighing in podcast, Makhachev explained:
“Yeah, they all say Sean Shelby, Hunter, Dana, they all say we want to give you some time for the rest and we want to see you in Abu Dhabi. In my mind, I think they’re going to give me June, maybe August, some , like they say. And we’re going to come back in Abu Dhabi.”
He isn’t too keen on facing Volkanovski again either but he wouldn’t mind it:
“Actually, I don’t need this rematch. People are still talking something. I don’t want to…”
” I always smash my opponent, I want to finish him too. And I know I can do this.”
Makhachev also said he hopes Beneil Dariush is next due to the fact he’s never faced him before and he’s on a winning streak. Dariush is currently booked to face Charles Oliveira at UFC 288.