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Alexander Volkanovski accuses Islam Makhachev of running from UFC 294 rematch: ‘You don’t want the smoke’

Set for a six week recovery period following a recent surgical procedure to address a long-standing elbow injury, undisputed featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski has accused rival, Islam Makhachev from “running” from a potential title rematch at UFC 294 in October.

Volkanovski, the recently-minted pound-for-pound number one, managed to retain the featherweight crown for the fifth time at UFC 290 earlier this month, landing a third round ground strikes TKO win over interim gold holder, Yair Rodríguez to successfully unify the featherweight titles.

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The victory propelled Volkanovski back to the winner’s enclosure following a close unanimous decision loss to the aforenoted, Makhachev at UFC 284 back in February in Perth, Australia – seeing his promotional-perfect run come to an end.