Alexander Volkanovski showed his class by demanding fans applaud Islam Makhachev after he was booed following their title fight.
Makhachev, 31, spoiled featherweight champion Volkanovski's hopes of becoming a double-champ as he defended his lightweight belt in their fight at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia. After five rounds of action between the top pound-for-pound fighters in the promotion, Makhachev won a unanimous decision by scores of 48-47 48-47 and 49-46 to make the first defence of his lightweight title.
The Australian crowd showed their loyalty to Volkanovski by booing Makhachev during his post-fight interview, but the featherweight champion told his fans to respect Makhachev just moments later. "First off guys, I appreciate the support but let's give a round of applause for Islam," he said.
"A lot of people are going to be happy with that because they didn't give me a chance but I gave myself a chance and was expecting to win. I knew he was really good and I prepared properly, it was a fun fight. Maybe I could have capitalised on some positions a bit more, I left it a little late but congrats to Islam."
Makhachev had played down the wrestling abilities of Volkanovski before the fight and the Australian admitted that he was surprised by his opponent's striking, stating: "He didn't respect my wrestling but maybe I didn't respect his striking enough, so fair play to both of us. I said I was staying active so I wanna get back in the lightweight division, but for now I'll go and settle this at the featherweight division."
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Volkanovski will likely go back down to featherweight in his next fight to defend his belt against Yair Rodriguez, as the Mexican won the interim title in the co-main event of the card. Volkanovski's defeat to Makhachev marked his first in almost a decade as the Australian had won 22 fights in a row heading into their title clash. The Great' was still in good spirits after the loss and encouraged other fighters to challenge themselves by moving up a weight class.
"I would have liked to say this message with a win but again, nothing wrong with challenging yourselves. You do it like this and it only makes you stronger. The reason I had pushed myself is because I knew how good Islam was. I can get the job done, but I came up short tonight. Islam is a great fighter, maybe we'll settle pound-for-pound number one again," Volkanovski added.
