UFC featherweight king Alex Volkanovski is not letting anyone jump the queue in his pitch for double-champ status, heading to Abu Dhabi as reserve for the headline lightweight battle between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev later this month.
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Volkanovski confirmed the news via YouTube on Tuesday, saying he's fully recovered from a broken hand suffered in his victory over fierce rival Max Holloway in July.
The definitive five-round decision win over the Hawaiian fan favourite in their third bout (all won by the Aussie) emphatically put their rivalry to bed and left a featherweight division utterly bereft of compelling challengers.
It's seen Wollongong's fighting pride turn his attention to a tilt at the lightweight strap and rare two-division champ status in arguably the most stacked division in the UFC.
Oliveira will be looking to reclaim the belt he lost on the scales ahead of his most recent bout with Justin Gaethje in May.
He won the subsequent non-title bout by first-round submission, but the Brazilian's apparent struggles to make the 155-pound limit have raised fears - voiced primarily by Makhachev's camp - that Oliveira won't turn up for the bout.
It's unlikely the UFC would tolerate the BJJ whiz missing weight in consecutive title bouts, with Volkanovski ready to fill the void should anything trip-up the planned showdown.
"We're locked in as a backup fighter," Volkanovski said via his personal YouTube channel.
"I've been calling for it, I said I want it, I just had to make sure the hand was all good. We've got the clearance to fight.
"The UFC's on board, everyone's on board, so I'll be at UFC 280 to make weight and, yeah, looking forward to it. Let's see what happens.
"If someone doesn't make it, I'm here 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."
Volkanovski went through a similar process - and more gruelling weight cut - ahead of then-featherweight champion Holloway's bout with Frankie Edgar in July 2019 having been equally determined to ensure no one got the ensuing featherweight title shot ahead of him.
With murmurs Beneil Darush, who is scheduled fight earlier on the UFC280 card, was pencilled in as a back-up, Volkanovski wasn't going to let anyone cut in line.
Should he not be required in a fill-in role on October 23, Volkanovski is odds on to face the winner in Australia next year after the UFC confirmed on Tuesday that it will return down under for the first time since 2019 when it brings the UFC 284 to Perth in February.
"I'm excited for this one purely because of where I'm at right now," Volkanovski said.
"I'm a whole different beast, I've evolved so much and I at least [deserve] the chance to go for that double-champ status. That's what I want and I definitely believe I'll be successful."
Both Oliveira (BJJ) and Makhachev (wrestling) boast formidable ground games, with coach Joe Lopez admitting preparation will be challenging.
"Camp's going to be pretty hard to structure because there's two different opponents, two different styles, one's orthodox, one's a southpaw," Lopez said.
"We've only had four weeks to prepare for this fight so, as a coach, it's not my ideal way of doing things but Alex wants to do it.
"At the end of the day he's the guy going in there and I've just got to be behind him and make sure we can do everything in our power to ensure that, if it does happen, we come out on top."
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