Dana White has poured cold water on Alexander Volkanovski's hopes of an immediate rematch against Islam Makhachev, despite lauding their clash as a fight for the ages.

Volkanovski, 34, took Makhachev, 31, all the way in Perth last month and lost out by a razor-tight margin at UFC 284 in his bold hope of dethroning the all-conquering Dagestani for his lightweight crown.

Given the competitive nature of the five-round battle, plenty of fans are demanding a rematch and Aussie star Volkanovski is keen to meet Makhachev as soon as possible.

However, White has other ideas. While he is in favour of the pair facing off again in the future, the UFC supremo says Volkanovski has other business to attend to in the form of interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez.   

'You know what my thoughts are on that when you make a super fight, could you possibly have a better f****** result than we did on that fight? Right?' White said via MMA Fighting. 

'When the entire world is arguing over who won, that's a super fight and it delivers right? The only thing that could possibly be better than that is the guy who's fighting for the interim title comes out looking incredible, too. So, now you got Yair versus Volkanovski.

'We'll see what happens with Islam and where he ends up fighting next. You have to do Yair [next]. I mean, [Yair] came out and absolutely dominated a stud [in Josh Emmett] that night and then you have the rematch after they both fight again. You could not have a better result.'

White was eager to add that while no fights have been scheduled yet, he believes the correct route to go down is for the two champions to defend their belts before meeting again.  

'I mean, listen, I don't know – we didn't make any fights yet,' White said. 'There are a lot of different things that play out and making these fights, you know, timing injuries, personal stuff, whatever it might be.

'But yeah, to me, the fight that makes sense is we make Yair versus Volkanovski, Islam versus somebody whenever that happens and, and then you do the rematch.'