Former ASA Welterweight Champion Vitali Slipenko in a conversation with , he admitted that he had no doubts about the Russian’s easy victory Islam Makhacheva on the Australian Alex Volkanovski in the main event at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.
On Saturday, October 21, Makhachev knocked out Volkanovski in the first round and defended the UFC lightweight championship belt. The two fighters met in Australia in February, with Makhachev winning by unanimous decision. Initially, the Russian’s opponent for the fight in the UAE was Charles Oliveira, but the Brazilian withdrew from the fight 11 days in advance, and Volkanovski accepted the challenge on short notice.
— I knew Makhachev would declassify Volkanovski. Abu Dhabi is his territory and Makhachev’s preparation has been very serious. And it seemed to me that he went into the fight angry, because after their first fight there were conversations. Islam was dismantled by Volkanovski according to the classics. “Alex fell into the trap,” Slipenko told .
In the co-main event, a fighter of Chechen origin representing the United Arab Emirates, Khamzat Chimaev, defeated former UFC welterweight champion, Nigerian Kamaru Usman, by majority decision. Initially, Chimaev was supposed to meet Brazilian Paulo Costa, but 10 days before the fight he withdrew for medical reasons. It was previously announced that the winner of this encounter would fight American UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
— Chimaev has functional difficulties, he starts to get tired in the second and third rounds. Inexplicably. In the first round, I saw a full statement from Usman. And then I saw that Chimaev was breathing and missing. It seems to me that he is not yet used to the weight. If there had been a fourth and fifth round, the results could have been different. Now he should fight with Strickland. That would be cool,” Slipenko added.
Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
