Islam Makhachev, Charles Oliveira rematch set for UFC 294
The main event of UFC 294 is official. UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will attempt to defend the belt in a rematch against former champion Charles Oliveira. The card will also feature a co-main event between Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa. UFC president Dana White announced the fights on social media.
Abu Dhabi we're back and we're bringing a STACKED card with us!!@DanaWhite just announced the first three fights for #UFC294 in October
— UFC (@ufc) July 20, 2023
[ Tickets on sales this week | @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/9mgcbIwbB8
UFC 294 will head to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Oct. 21, 2023. The octagon last touched down in Abu Dhabi for UFC 280 which Makhachev and Oliveira also headlined.
It was not a secret that Makhachev would fight at UFC 294. Although, there were a ton of questions surrounding his opponent. Ultimately, Oliveira was given the opportunity after an impressive performance at UFC 289 that demonstrated he still had his sights on Makhachev.
This will be the second time that Makhachev and Oliveira meet inside the UFC octagon. In their first meeting at UFC 280, Makhachev submitted Oliveira in an outstanding performance where he looked miles better than the rest of the lightweight division. Now, at UFC 294, Oliveira will have a chance to right that wrong and regain his former title.
Since UFC 280, Islam Makhachev picked up his first title defense in a hard-fought decision victory over featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. The potential for a rematch between Makhachev and Volkanovski was discussed, but the featherweight champion was forced to have surgery which likely hampered his ability to compete at UFC 294.
The card does not stop at the main event, however. The co-main event between Chimaev and Costa will be massively important to the UFC middleweight division. This will be Chimaev’s first fight against a ranked middleweight. If he is able to get past Costa, the blue-chip prospect will likely find himself in a title fight. On the other hand, Costa is looking to get some consistency in his career which has been absent since losing a title fight to Israel Adesanya. That said, a win at UFC 294 would be an outstanding step toward a rematch with the champion.
If that was not enough, Chimaev and Costa have legitimate disdain for one another. The often-forgotten aspect of Chimaev’s hectic UFC 279 was his altercation with Costa. The pair can finally settle their beef after nearly a year of trash talk.
The creation of the Chimaev and Costa bout also resulted in the UFC shuffling a few matchups around. Originally, Costa was supposed to fight Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291. That bout will not come to fruition. Instead, Aliskerov will be added to UFC 294 and will fight the No. 12 ranked middleweight Nassourdine Imavov.
The UFC 294 main card will likely shape up to be a good one. The event already has three outstanding fights and the card is still several months away. That gives the UFC plenty of time to add more high-profile bouts.
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