It was February of this year when Alexander Volkanovski lost his attempt at double-champ status, defeated by Islam Makhachev via unanimous decision in a fight many thought he could have won.
The Australian was immediately keen on a rematch, but those chances dwindled later in the year when he defended his first belt against Yair Rodriguez, a fight he dominated, but broke his hand in the process.
With the timelines not adding up, the UFC moved on from a Volkanovski-Makhachev rematch, instead giving Brazillian Charles Oliveira a shot at the top spot.
But cut to October, and Volkanovski's attempt at the lightweight strap is back on the menu, a late call-up to UFC 294 after Oliveira withdrew due to a training injury, a chance he said he was hoping for despite his injury when he spoke to Sporting News in August.
"I've told [the UFC] that I want to be in before the end of the year. I'm already training now. I'm punching the bag, one arm. I'm on the bike, building strength at the moment. I'm not really going to miss a beat," Volkanovski said
"I just think Islam is really good.
"A lot of people think that training camp was all this, but it's not. It's a mentality I have. It's a never-give-up and never-say-die attitude that's going to always make you fight for every little inch. You can't just grow that overnight. That's something that I've always had and here's obviously techniques and things that we're going to do, but it's mainly my style and what I'm all about that is always going to make it okay, for me to fight Islam. That's why next time he's in for a real fight."
This weekend, for the second time in ten months, Volkanovski will enter the cage with Makhachev. If you ask him, this time the result will be different.
