Makhachev Tells Volkanovski To “Hold Your Horses Cowboy” On LW Move | UFC Betting Sites

UFC lightweight contender Islam Makhachev has looked to nip talk of featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski challenging for 155-pound gold in the bud.

At UFC 273, Volkanovski’s 21st straight win in professional MMA made it back-to-back pay-per-view main events triumphs. The victory came courtesy of a brutal beating he inflicted on “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung in the April 9 main event.

With his third successful title defense, Volkanovski appeared to open the door to a potential transition to lightweight in search of champ-champ status, a feat that, if accomplished, would certainly leave Alexander “The Great” well placed to claim acquisition of the featherweight GOAT title.

Having quickly advanced talk of a pursuit for two-division success post-fight, Volkanovski reiterated that desire on the streets of New York in an interview recently uploaded to his own YouTube channel.

“The champ wants that lightweight belt. I think I’m in a position… I haven’t been calling for the double champ status. I’ve always said it’s gonna happen in the near future, but I waited until I had four title-fight wins, three title defenses. I’ve waited till now to call it, and I think that’s fair. I’m in a position where it could definitely happen. The timing is right,” claimed Volkanovski.

While that idea has intrigued many, it’s less-than-popular with one top-five lightweight contender.

Makhachev: Not So Fast, Volk!

Following his victory over short-notice replacement Bobby Green in February, it seemed like Islam Makhachev had secured a title shot for later this year. Fast forward nearly two months and the Dagestani now likely has Beneil Dariush back in his way, and potentially the impending arrival of the featherweight king to think about.

Doing his best to prevent Volkanovski from joining the conversation at 155 pounds, Makhachev took to Twitter to channel his inner American, telling the Aussie to ‘hold his horses’ when it comes to challenging for a second belt.

“Hold your horses cowboy., you have division full of young sharks, more than enough to stay busy. LW title fight is mine,” wrote Makhachev.

While the claim that the lightweight title fight is his can be said to be debatable given Dana White’s comments last month, in which he suggested the original February bout between Makhachev and Dariush will be re-arranged later this year, the Dagestani’s note about featherweight “sharks” vying for a shot at gold is hard to deny.

While a trilogy with Max Holloway is a certain option, especially given that fight was originally booked for this year, Volkanovski himself has already suggested that Yair Rodriguez could skip to the top of the queue by defeating Brian Ortega.

Elsewhere, Calvin Kattar, Josh Emmett, and Arnold Allen all recently secured big wins and would present fresh challenges to the champ.

But with every name other than “Blessed” likely needing another victory to secure a championship opportunity, the door certainly appears open for Volkanovski, who aims to remain active this year, to explore another weight.

Who would you rather see a fight for the lightweight gold, Islam Makhachev or Alexander Volkanovski?

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