Australian Volkanovski, who holds the organisation's featherweight belt, displayed immense durability in front of his home crowd as he pushed the bigger, taller Russian all the way before losing the bout on the judges' scorecards.
"We fight not just for the belt, but for who is going to be the best fighter in the world, that is why it was such a hard fight," Makhachev said in his post-fight press conference.
The decision may have been unanimous but it was not as convincing as Makhachev might have liked, and before the combatants left the octagon fans and other fighters were calling for a rematch as soon as possible.
"That was one of the most competitive fights in the history of the sport," former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo posted on Twitter.
After submitting Charles Oliveira (33) to claim the lightweight belt last October, Makhachev called out Volkanovski, UFC champion at featherweight, a division 10 pounds below the organisation's 155-pound lightweight mark and widely regarded as one of the sport's pound-for-pound greats.
Sunday's showdown in Perth swung in the fourth round as Makhachev was able to take the fight to the mat early in the fourth round and use his fearsome grappling to wear out his smaller challenger, setting up his decision victory.
"Why am I the best right now? Because I beat the best fighter in the world. That's why I deserve this more - and if somebody wants to be the best, I am ready. Come in," Makhachev said defiantly.
Despite losing at the RAC Arena, Volkanovski is still convinced he could be the man to take down Makhachev.
"You could see that I could definitely win that fight," he told reporters. "I definitely want that fight back. I want that lightweight belt."
