Islam Makhachev vowed not to call out Conor McGregor after winning the UFC lightweight title, and he honoured that promise when he beat Charles Oliveira last night.
The Russian was crowned lightweight champion at UFC 280 after defeating Oliveira in the second round by submission, and immediately decided to call for a fight with Alexander Volkanovski - not McGregor. The featherweight champion is the No.1-ranked UFC fighter in the pound-for-pound rankings, and was willing to step in had either of last night's fighters pulled out.
Prior to his fight with Oliveira, Makhachev had insisted that he wouldn't be putting McGregor in the title picture, given that he is 1-3 in the division, and hasn't won at 155lb since his 2016 title fight with Eddie Alvarez. Instead he promised to give the shot to a legitimate contender such as Beneil Dariush, who defeated Mateusz Gamrot on the undercard last night.
