Alexander Volkanovski announced that he’s the official backup for the upcoming UFC lightweight title fight.
Volkanovski holds the featherweight title and is medically cleared to fight from a hand injury and that the UFC is keeping him on reserve in case either Charles Oliveira or Islam Makhachev were to pull out of their vacant championship bout later this month.
Oliveira and Makhachev are scheduled to fight in the main event of UFC 280, which is set to take place Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi.
“We’re locked in as a backup fighter,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “I’ve been calling it, I said I wanted it, just had to make sure the hand was all good, so we’re all good. We’re locked in, and we got the clearance to fight.”
“The UFC is on board, everyone is on board, so I’ll be at UFC 280 to make weight, and yeah, looking forward to it. We’ll see what happens. If someone doesn’t make it, I’m there to save the day. If not, at least I’m locked in as the next guy to fight for that lightweight title, and that’s that.”
A UFC official did not respond for confirmation on Volkanovski’s backup status. The promotion has yet to comment on the situation.