On Sunday, Perth plays host to one of the biggest UFC fights in years – and one, in many ways, that has never happened before.

Home hope Alexander Volkanovski, the 25-1 featherweight champion and number one in the pound-for-pound rankings, jumps up a weight class to take on lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, number two in the pound-for-pound rankings.

“It’s a monster fight,” UFC boss Dana White declared.

“I don’t think it’s ever happened – number one and number two fighting … When you have the number one versus number two pound for pound guys in the world, fighting each other in their prime – it’s never happened, if you think of all the fights we’ve had in the UFC.”

Volkanovski has never been defeated in the octagon, and is on a 10 years, 22-fight unbeaten streak. But he’s still a rank outsider in the betting markets, such is the incredible talent of his Dagestani rival.

Watch UFC 284: Makhachev v Volkanovski LIVE on Main Event available on Kayo & Foxtel, Sunday 12 February from 2pm AEDT. ORDER NOW >

Makhachev has long been stuck in the shadow of his former training partner turned coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The duo trained out of the famed American Kickboxing Academy founded by Javier Mendez. The list of UFC greats from that stable includes Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold, BJ Penn, and Cain Velasquez to name a few.

So when the iconic Mendez said – early and often – that Makhachev would become a lightweight champion, a pound-for-pound king, and even a great of the sport, it seemed he was destined for greatness.

The problem was that another Dagestani wrestler got there first. Nurmagomedov blitzed the UFC, making even the fiercest of rivals look like playthings as he claimed a 29-0 record, the lightweight belt, and the number one pound-for-pound ranking.

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Nurmagomedov made his UFC debut in January 2012, having picked up a 16-0 MMA record in Ukraine and Russia before that. 31-year-old Makhachev, three years his close friend’s junior, made his debut in May 2015. It ended the same way Nurmagomedov’s did – a submission victory via rear-naked choke.

But in Makhachev’s second UFC fight, a left hook in the first round missed – and Adriano Martins’s perfectly-timed counter right landed. Makhachev was quickly finished from there.

One win and one loss in the UFC. Few predicted then that Makhachev would become one of the truly elite fighters in the organisation.

By the time of Makhachev’s defeat, Nurmagomedov had racked up six wins in the organisation – including a former champion in Rafael dos Anjos. His next fight was meant to be a title eliminator against the popular Tony Ferguson, before El Cucuy was forced out due to a lung issue. And in his next fight – UFC 205 in 2016 – he was set to fight for the title for the first time against Alvarez. But a deal couldn’t be made, and Conor McGregor stepped up. The Irishman beat Alvarez to hold the lightweight and featherweight championships consecutively.

For all the setbacks, the twists and turns in the story, nothing could stop Nurmagomedov’s rise. He would finally have his title shot in 2018, beating Al Iaquinta for the vacant lightweight belt. He would defend it against Conor McGregor – the man who took ‘his’ shot at the title two years earlier. Then Nurmagomedov would defend the belt twice more with wins over Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.

A legendary career defined by facing – and beating – the best, but equally by the setbacks he endured and overcame along the way.

In a way, that provided the perfect example for Makhachev to follow.

If the younger Dagestani star had been stuck in the shadow of an all-time great, he was guided and mentored by him at the same time.

And after his own setback – that solitary defeat in 2015 – Makhachev well and truly followed the path laid out by his training partner.

He picked up a handful of unanimous decision wins on the way up, but his unstoppable wrestling ability became more and more pronounced.

Indeed, in his last five fights dating back to 2021, Makhachev has finished all five of his opponents. Four were submissions, including his stunning demolition of lightweight champ Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 last October.

His record? 23-1, but with 11 straight wins since his only defeat. Having not even been on the pound-for-pound rankings before taking on the Brazilian for the belt, Makhachev was vaulted all the way to third in the pound-for-pound rankings. And after Nurmagomedov’s retirement, he soon became one of Makhachev’s most influential coaches – though he will not be in the corner this time around.

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