Charles Oliveira OUT of Islam Makhachev fight, Alexander Volkanovski IN

Islam Makhachev was preparing to perform in front of his own fans when he collided with Charles Oliveira in the rematch later this month, but that may no longer be happening. 

As reported earlier today, ‘Do Bronx’ has withdrawn from the title fight and will now potentially be replaced by featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. ‘The Great’ has already competed against the lightweight champion on one occasion and has been hoping to get his hands on Makhachev after the razor-close decision went against him last time out.

There were no public concerns regarding the headlining fight with less than two weeks out from UFC 294 but news has now broken that Oliveira will no longer be available to compete on that date.

Can confirm: Charles Oliveira is OUT of his #UFC294 title Fight. UFC working on the rematch between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski as the new main event.

News was first reported by Overdogs podcast on instragam.

— Carlos Contreras Legaspi 🦁 (@CCLegaspi) October 11, 2023

There have been no further details on whether a deal between Makhachev and Volkanovski has been reached, though the late change of opponents will not be ideal for the 155 lbs titleholder. 

Although his reason for bowing out of the fight remains unknown, Charles Oliveira was determined to not only get his revenge on Makhachev but also recapture the throne he lost. The Brazilian put on a masterclass against the surging Beneil Dariush in his most recent octagon outing and promised fans they would be getting a much better version of himself against the Russian this time around.

Alexander Volkanovski was rumored to be putting his featherweight strap on the line against the undefeated Ilia Topuria next, but those plans seem to have changed. The Australian has been vocal about his plan to again test himself at lightweight and he will now possibly get that chance, alas on extremely short notice.

Related: Alexander Volkanovski has perfect date planned for Islam Makhachev rematch

Islam Makhachev prides himself on being the perfect successor to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s dominance but taking a matchup less than two weeks ahead of a fight could spell disaster. While he has already been successful when facing Volkanovski, the Dagestani has spent months preparing for a completely different fight stylistically. 

If he is to agree to the clash, the UFC 294 card remains largely the same, though there are still some doubts surrounding the huge middleweight showdown between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa.