Islam Makhachev secured a memorable first round victory over Alexander "The Great" Volkanovski with a huge left head-kick at UFC 294.
The 31-year-old lightweight champion, who won the title in October last year, was set to run it back with Charles Oliveira this weekend until a cut forced the Brazilian out of action.
Makhachev instead rematched featherweight champ Volkanovski on 11 days notice and soon, we witnessed a quite remarkable finish in Abu Dhabi.
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As you can see from the footage below, the Russian delivered a brutal left head-kick that floored Volkanovski, who tried to defend himself from several hammer fists.
But the referee stepped in as Makhachev proceeded to produce a not-so-subtle 'shhhh' celebration. Check this out:
In his post-fight interview, Makhachev paid tribute to Volkanovski after taking the bout on short notice.
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Volkanovski claims to have lost nearly two stone in 11 days to make weight for the rematch at UFC 294.
"I showed him first a couple of low and body kicks, then I changed to a high kick," Makhachev said. "This is something we trained for a couple months – for Oliveira, and nothing changed here.”
Volkanovski went on to say: "Obviously [it was a] great set-up, great kick. It’s hard, I don’t like losing, it hurts me. But he’s a great champion, what do you do?
“I back myself all the time, I still stand by that – back yourself every time.”
In the co-main event, Chechen-born Khamzat Chivaev secured a majority decision win over Kamaru Usman.
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Chimaev would later use his post-fight interview to speak about the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
“Guys you know what’s happening in the world, seeing the kids dying," he said. "It doesn’t matter where in the world, when kids die. It’s hard guys, I love the kids. I have a boy waiting back home for me.
"I was a school kid when [Usman] was fighting. I am a big fan of him and his coaches. He has a great team. I love my job and I’m happy today.”
Featured Image Credit: TNT Sports/X
