Alexander Volkanovski shared small insight into the alleged use of an intravenous line by his former opponent Islam Makhachev.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour, the Australia native discussed his thoughts on Makhavev’s weight on fight night then hinted at Makhachev using an IV to rehydrate after his weight cut to 155 pounds.
Volkanovski’s teammate Dan Hooker took to social media today and spoke about how Makhachev allegedly hired a nurse to provide an IV for rehydration. He went on to call the 155-pound champion a “cheater”. Makhachev successfully defended his lightweight title against Volkanovski this past weekend at UFC 284.
Volkanovki’s interview was taped before Hooker’s comments.
“Yeah, 178, 180 [pounds] I think [Islam Makhachev] would’ve been. I heard he gets up to 180, like 83 kilograms close to it. You fill up pretty quick on the IV’s and stuff like that…Maybe that’s a little shot at him.”
The UFC have not responded to the allegations.
Alexander Volkanovski is Confident He’ll Beat Islam Makhachev in a Rematch
With another opportunity, the 145-champion Volkanovski believes he’ll defeat Makhachev and become a double champion. It was his first loss since May 2013.
“I don’t want to be that guy but if he was just a featherweight in my division, I’d squash him. I’d squash him. It’s a walk in the park. No offense to him but that’s legit and I can make this a walk in the park right now. We fight again and we do this rematch, which…I talked about it, Islam talked about, UFC’s talking about it, and everyone else is talking about it so I think we can make that happen. I don’t need him to be a featherweight…He can get as big as he wants, IV, whatever he does it doesn’t matter. Watch what happens next time.”