‘Aim to head butt the chest cavity’ - McGregor advises Volkanovski

The former double champ knows what it takes to move up a division an win a second belt.

Never one to stay out of drama around the lightweight title picture, former two-division champion Conor McGregor was quick to insert himself in the discourse following Islam Makhachev’s victory over Charles Oliveira and the UFC’s quickly announced plans that the next title shot would be going to Alexander Volkanovski.

‘The Notorious’ 34-year-old hasn’t been seen in the Octagon since a pair of 2021 losses to Dustin Poirier, the second of which involved a brutal leg break and months of rehab. Although it seems McGregor should be nearly back to full strength, there’s no telling when he might get back in the cage—with a movie project and a return to the USADA testing pool firmly between him and fighting at the moment. All facts that didn’t escape Volkanovski’s attention in a response to McGregor’s social media post.

That must have struck a chord with McGregor, who quickly responded that he was “just watching and monitoring” and that he was really “happy for” Volkanovski and his opportunity to gain a second title. In fact, McGregor was so thrilled for Volkanovski’s upcoming bout against Makhachev that he took it up on himself to offer some advice on how the Aussie should approach his move up to lightweight.

Volkanovski vs. Makhachev hasn’t been made official yet, but the bout is currently planned for UFC 284 in Perth, Australia, on February 12th at the RAC Arena. A middleweight top contender’s fight between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa is also expected for the PPV card.