Lightweight superstar Charles Oliveira has reportedly been forced out of the UFC 294 main event, and he will be replaced by a different pound-for-pound star who is also a current champion.
On Oct. 21 the UFC’s next pay-per-view extravaganza was set to be headlined by a highly anticipated rematch between lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and former titlist Charles Oliveria. However, it seems that the matchup will not be happening in Abu Dhabi in two weeks.
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Combat Sports talk show “Over Dogs Podcast” was the first to report that Oliveira suffered an injury and has been removed from the top fight at this month’s PPV event. Despite Oliveira being unavailable, one of the key bits of information in the report is that Makhachev will actually be staying on the card.
Alexander Volkanovski to replace Charles Oliveira in UFC 294 main event
Soon after the report from “Overdogs,” TSN MMA insider Aaron Bronsteter spoke directly with UFC President Dana White who verified that the Brazilian is indeed out of the fight at UFC 294. He also confirmed a major part of the original report and that is featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will jump in on two weeks’ notice to replace Oliveira.
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“Dana White confirms that Charles Oliveira is OUT and Alexander Volkanovski is IN for UFC 294’s main event against Islam Makhachev. White says that in Oliveira’s fifth round of sparring yesterday, he split his eyebrow open badly. Oliveira was supposed to fly to Abu Dhabi today.
“… White says that Volkanovski accepted immediately with a single phone call. White said he planned on announcing it hours ago, but he needed to let the people in Abu Dhabi know. He is disappointed that Oliveira’s team told people before he could.”
– Aaron Bronsteter
This new booking will also be a rematch after Volkanovski moved up in weight to be the Russian’s first title challenger at UFC 284 in February. Makhachev obviously won the bout, but it was a unanimous decision in a highly competitive fight that many thought the Australian won.
Volkanovski last fought in July, beating Yair Rodriguez by TKO to unify the featherweight titles.