UFC 294 card gets dream upgrade as Volkanovski and Usman join the action

UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi has just received an upgrade that fight fans could only dream of — counterintuitively after the main and co-main events suffered withdrawals.

Brazilian Charles Oliveira suffered a gory eyebrow injury in sparring that has ruled him out of his headline rematch against Russia’s Islam Makhachev. Middleweight contender Paulo Costa’s recent elbow surgery, meanwhile, has not repaired in time to face crowd favourite Khamzat Chimaev.

Any follower of the UFC will tell you this usually spells disaster for the overall card. However, those lucky enough to bag tickets to the Oct. 21 showdown in Abu Dhabi will be salivating at the prospect of flyweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and former welterweight title-holder Kamaru Usman joining the card.

Aussie Volkanovski will meet Makhachev in a rerun of the closely contested super fight in February 2023. The Russian claimed a unanimous points victory on the night as Alex “The Great” attempted to become a two-weight champion, but the fight was anything but one-sided. Volkanovski pushed Makhachev across five rounds. By comparison, Oliveira melted before Makhachev the last time out and succumbed to a second-round submission.

The verbal sparring has already begun between the pair, with Makhachev taking to social media platform X to say: “Respect for taking this fight on short notice, Alex, but don’t use it as an excuse after the fight.” Volkanovski responded with mind games via his YouTube channel. “All the pressure’s on him. I’m coming off the couch. You better do something about it.”

The second switch on the card is even more intriguing. Costa’s UFC career has been plagued by injuries. This bad luck has been a theme for the No.6 ranked middleweight in the world