Dana White Doesn’t Favor Immediate Makhachev-Volkanovski Rematch

Though it’s now a couple weeks in the rearview mirror, the UFC 284 headliner nonetheless remains a hot topic of conversation.

Islam Makhachev captured a hotly contested decision win over Alexander Volkanovski to retain his lightweight crown on Feb. 11 in Perth, Australia. Many observers thought Volkanovski deserved the nod, and praised the 145-pound champ for giving a larger opponent all he could handle for 25 minutes. Because the fight was so close, there have been calls for an immediate rematch — including from Volkanovski himself.

However, UFC president Dana White isn’t among those who thinks an immediate rematch is the right move to make. For one, UFC 284 also produced a ready made featherweight contender in Yair Rodriguez, who defeated Josh Emmett for the interim crown in the evening’s co-main event. While Makhachev doesn’t have his next opponent lined up, White believes it’s probably best for both champions to fight again before considering a rematch.

“When you make a super fight, could you possibly have a better result than we did? The entire world is arguing on who won. That’s a superfight and it delivered,” White said at the UFC Fight Night 220 post-fight press conference.

“The only thing that could possibly be better than that is the guy who’s fighting for the interim title, comes out looking incredible, too. So now you have Yair vs. Volkanovski. We’ll see what happens with Islam and who he ends up fighting next. You have to do Yair. You have to do that fight. He came out looking like an absolute stud that night. And then you have the rematch after they both fight again. It could not have a better result.”

White appears to be set on booking Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez next at featherweight. The next move for Makhachev isn’t as certain, though a contender could emerge from a UFC 288 showdown between ex-champ Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush.

“To me, the fight that makes sense is you make Yair vs. Vokanovski,” White said. “Islam vs. somebody whenever that happens, and then you do the rematch.”