On Sunday, Perth will host one of the biggest UFC fights in years – and one that has never happened before in many respects.
Home hope Alexander Volkanovski, the 25-1 featherweight champion and number one in the pound-for-pound rankings, jumps up a weight class to take on lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, number two in the pound-for-pound rankings.
“It’s a monster fight,” UFC boss Dana White declared.
“I don’t think it’s ever happened – number one and number two fighting … When you have the number one versus number two pound for pound guys in the world, fighting each other in their prime – it’s never happened, if you think of all the fights we’ve had in the UFC.”
Volkanovski has never been defeated in the octagon, and is on a 10 years, 22-fight unbeaten streak. But he’s still a rank outsider in the betting markets, such is the incredible talent of his Dagestani rival.
Makhachev has long been stuck in the shadow of his former training partner turned coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The duo trained out of the famed American Kickboxing Academy founded by Javier Mendez. The list of UFC greats from that stable includes Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold, BJ Penn, and Cain Velasquez to name a few.
So when the iconic Mendez said – early and often – that Makhachev would become a lightweight champion, a pound-for-pound king, and even a great of the sport, it seemed he was destined for greatness.
The problem was that another Dagestani wrestler got there first. Nurmagomedov blitzed the UFC, making even the fiercest of rivals look like playthings as he claimed a 29-0 record, the lightweight belt, and the number one pound-for-pound ranking.
