Alexander Volkanovski rival's ugly swipe amid cheating claims

UFC Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has mocked Alexander Volkanovski's lack of power asking "When was the last time he knocked anyone out?" as cheating claims continue to linger from the pair's first fight. Volkanovski has promised to knock out the lightweight champion as he steps into the fight on 11 days' notice after Charles Oliveira was forced to withdraw from the main event.

In February, Makhachev won a narrow and somewhat controversial decision over Volkanovski. The outcome still irks the Aussie, who has vowed to leave the judges out of it in the rematch by knocking out the Dagestan native, in a fight that he believes will only continue to build his legacy.

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In the lead-up to the highly anticipated bout, Makhachev has launched a scathing attack on Volkanovski, saying he isn't doing it for his legacy, he is just doing it for the money.

“If the UFC told him to bring his belt to Abu Dhabi he would never take it,” Makhachev told Fox Sports Australia. “He doesn’t have any risk without his belt, that’s why he comes, he comes to make money. It’s all about this, everybody knows."

Makhachev didn't stop his verbal assault there, taking aim at the Aussies lack of knockout power while laughing off Volkanovski's claim that he was going to stop him. "I don’t remember when Alex knocked out someone," the Dagestani said.

"He wanna try to pressure but I don’t care, everyone who steps into the cage wants to knock me out, but I stop them all. I showed him too much respect in the first fight, this fight I will try to finish him through all five rounds.”

Cheating rumours continue to circulate

The lightweight champion has hit back at allegations that he used an IV drip in Australia as complete "bulls***". One of the biggest controversies of the pair's first fight was Team Volkanovski's allegations that Makhachev illegally used an IV drip to help rehydrate after a tough weight cut.

Volkanovski's team-mate Dan Hooker tweeted following the Perth fight: “Dumb c... thinks he can fly to Australia to hire a nurse to give him an IV and we won’t find out”. Volkanovski's camp has urged officials to put in place safeguards at Abu Dhabi to prevent any possible cheating.

While Volkanovski refused to comment on Makhachev's alleged IV use, he did say that any fighter who used IVs to rehydrate is “a f…ing coward”. In an interview at the fighter hotel, Makhachev denied he used an IV and fired back at Dan Hooker for making false statements.

“I know a couple of bulls… guys who want to make drama,” he said. “But if you are a professional fighter, if you say something you have to back it up, you cannot say something – he used IV or something like this – if you don’t have any proof.”

Volkanovski laughs at foe's attempt to intimidate him

The Aussie revealed that tensions were high the pair had crossed paths at the UFC hotel earlier where he said his Dagestani opponent tried to intimidate him. However, the Aussie says he wasn't bothered by it and found the whole thing quite amusing.

“Mate, you’re not going to intimidate me," Volkanovski said. “Let’s remember how I left that last fight … I remember punching your head through the canvas”.

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