Alexander Volkanovski Replaces Charles Olivera to Face Islam Makhachev at UFC 294

Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira was forced to withdraw from his 155-pound title fight against reigning champ Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 on Oct. 21, but the company quickly found an exciting replacement.

UFC president Dana White confirmed to ESPN's Marc Raimondi that UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will step in on 11 days' notice to face Makhachev in Abu Dhabi.

The fight between Volkanovski (26-2) and Makhachev (24-1) will be a rematch from their clash at UFC 284 in February. Makhachev won by unanimous decision in a fight that was considered to be one of the best in the history of the lightweight division. While Volkanovski failed in his bid to become a two-division champion, he remains one spot ahead of Makhachev in the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings.

"This is how we do it, brother," White said. "One fight falls out and we end up making a fight -- it's one of the most anticipated rematches ever in that weight class."

White noted that Oliveira and his team were slated to fly to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, but he ended up sustaining a cut on his eyebrow during sparring on Monday night. The cut required stitches and was serious enough to force Oliveira out of the fight. However, it took just "one phone call" for White to convince Volkanovski to take his place.

"The Volkanovski crew, him and Israel [Adesanya], these guys are absolute studs, man," White said.

Makhachev enters the fight riding a 12-fight win streak. Volkanovski bounced back from his loss in February by retaining his featherweight title with a third-round TKO victory over Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 in July.