Conor McGregor has claimed Islam Makhachev was fortunate to not be penalised for an illegal act during his KO win over Aussie Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294.
The lightweight champion emphatically ended the rivalry — and Volkanovski’s hopes of ever becoming a two-division champion — with a thunderous high leg kick during their Sunday morning morning blockbuster in Abu Dhabi.
The fight lasted just three minutes before the referee rushed in to stop Volkanovski from being pulverised after he’d fallen to the floor on the side of the Octagon.
However, it has now been revealed that the ground and pound punches used to finish Volkanovski off were in fact illegal strikes to the back of the 35-year-old’s head.
The illegal act was first called out by McGregor, who has since deleted the accusation made against Makhachev.
He posted on X, formerly Twitter: “A difficult sport to ref. To stop that on a warning or a point deduction when volk was essentially out already is a tricky one.
“But there would be grounds for it, 100 per cent. Would have been nail biting stuff. I’d have loved to see it happen.
“Back of the head shots are not good.”
Volkanovski — who took the fight on two weeks notice — did not mention the illegal strikes following the defeat and was nothing but classy towards the man who has now defeated him twice this year.
He said inside the Octagon: “A great set up. A great kick. It’s hard, I don’t like losing. It hurts me.
“He’s a great champion. I back myself every single time and I still stand by that, always back yourself.
“Islam is one man who you don’t want to back yourself [against] if you don’t prepare properly because look what he can do to you, he’s that good. Credit to him.”
Volkanovski continued to speak with true sportsmanship after the fight and shared his raw emotions with the world in an emotional press conference.
He revealed personal news that he has been grappling with private mental health battles and needed to take the fight for those reasons.
There are now fears Volkanovski needs to be saved from himself.
He pleaded with UFC boss Dana White after the defeat to keep him active, despite the terrifying blow to his head.
Volkanovski — if he’d have defeated Makhachev — made no secret of the fact he would stay up in the lightweight division.
If defeated, it was widely rumoured Volkanovski would defend his featherweight belt against Ilia Topuria in the yet-to-be announced UFC 297 main event card scheduled for January 20 in Toronto.
After such a punishing defeat there are now calls for Volkanovski to take a break away from the sport.
