Alexander Volkanovski came up agonisingly short in his bid to become a dual-weight champion at UFC 284, suffering a narrow decision loss to Islam Makhachev on Saturday.
Australian Volkanovski entered and exited the RAC Arena in Perth as featherweight champion, but the lightweight title eluded him as 155lbs champion Makhachev secured a unanimous- decision win in enemy territory.
Volkanovski had promised to disprove doubters who had claimed he was too small to compete with Makhachev, and the 34-year- old did just that, standing almost every time he was taken down – as he had said he would – reversing grappling positions along the fence, and staggering the Russian with punches.
