Jack Kenmare
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.”