Islam Makhachev said he realised his dream to become the best fighter in the world after he successfully defended his lightweight title against the UFC’s No 1 pound-for-pound male Alexander Volkanovski in Australia on Sunday.
The Dagestan native, who went into the clash against the featherweight champion at No 2 in the overall rankings, prevailed by unanimous decision in the headline event at UFC 284, taking the contest 48-47, 48-47, 49-46.
The bout, one of the mostly keen contested in recent memory, was deservedly awarded Fight of the Night at the RAC Arena in Perth.
The victory increased Makhachev’s win streak to 12 – the longest active winning run in the UFC – while also inflicting Volkanovski’s first defeat in 23 professional bouts. It marked the Australian’s second pro loss overall (25-2) while Makhachev's CV now sits at 24-1.
“Doesn’t matter how I won today,” Makhachev told reporters afterwards. “Now I’m not just champion; I’m the best fighter in the world. Now people are going to call me not just champ, but the best fighter in the world. This is my dream. I’m very happy.”
Makhachev and Volkanovski traded blow for blow for the majority of a gripping battle, with the latter cheered on by a partisan crowd in his home country.
Known as arguably the most dominant wrestler in the UFC at present, Makhachev said in the build-up that he planned to knock out Volkanovski. The explosive featherweight, 34, was attempting to become only the fifth fighter in the promotion’s history to hold two belts simultaneously.
“I told all media that I’m going to try to knock him out,” Makhachev said. “I landed many good punches, good knees, but this guy is so strong. How is he strong? Because he was the best fighter in the world. Not now, before.
“I give him big cut [above his left eye]. But this guy is a real champion.”
Makhachev, 31, said he would learn significantly from going the distance for the first time in his UFC career.
“This is my first five rounds,” he said. “It was a crazy and big experience for me. And I’m very happy because fighters need some hard fights. From the easy fights, like one or two rounds, you don’t improve a lot. But from the five rounds I’m sure I improved a lot.”
On whether he was worried the judges would award the win to Volkanovski, who concluded the fight on top of Makhachev, the lightweight champion said: “Honestly, last round he landed a good punch. I don’t know, I just go down and in my mind I thought I won four, three rounds and just I don’t want to do some mistake. That’s why I played a little bit there.
“When fight was over, I thought I won minimum three rounds.”
Asked about the possibility of a rematch with Volkanovski, Makhachev said: “I never choose the opponent. When [UFC president] Dana [White] call me, I will be ready. I’m waiting for the call. I’m a champion, best fighter in the world. Give me a real contender.
“Now I am the best fighter, champion. Dana I’m waiting. Call me.”
Fighting for the first time in five UFC bouts without long-time teammate and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner, Makhachev took a call from the former champion immediately after the triumph.
“He so nervous and he say, ‘Why you don’t do this and this?’” said Makhachev, who won the belt last October in Abu Dhabi. “I said, ‘If you were in my corner I can do this, but you didn’t come’.”
Meanwhile, Volkanovski congratulated Makhachev on the win, saying he would next return to 145 lbs to defend his featherweight crown against Yair Rodriguez. The Mexican, the division's No 2-ranked contender, defeated Josh Emmett in the card’s penultimate bout by second-round submission to claim the interim title.
“Let’s just get it over and done with,” Volkanovski said. “I said I was going to stay active. I’ll be back in the lightweight division, but for now let me go settle this featherweight division. Congrats to Yair.
“Just because I pulled up short tonight doesn't change a thing. Obviously a lot of people are going to be happy with that because they never gave me a chance. I knew I prepared properly, it was a fun fight. Congrats to Islam.”
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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