Reigning UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski jumped to the 155-pound weight class to problem present light-weight kingpin Islam Makhachev, ultimately falling short after 5 rounds of back-and-forth motion atop the UFC 284 pay-per-view (PPV) card in Perth.
Sadly for all events concerned, that was not the top of the preventing.
Shortly after the mud settled “Down Beneath,” UFC light-weight contender Dan Hooker, a longtime buddy and teammate of Volkanovski, outright accused Makhachev of cheating to achieve a battle night time benefit by the use of intravenous (IV) hydration following a “killer” weight cut.
Nevertheless it feels like there’s extra to the story, due to a UFC scale snitch.
“I imagine [Hooker] is salty. Islam fought him, he virtually took his arm house,” Makhachev’s supervisor, Ali Abdelaziz, informed The Schmo. “I don’t know what it’s. Don’t attempt to level fingers. In actuality, and I obtained this from the UFC: Combat night time, Alexander Volkanovski weighed two kilos heavier than Islam Makhachev. You need to speak about IVs? He weighed two kilos heavier than Islam. Islam didn’t get no IVs in Australia, perceive? Possibly any person else did, however Islam didn’t.”
Volkanovski was 154.5 kilos at the official weigh ins in opposition to 155 for Makhachev, so to ensure that “The Nice” to be heavier, the fee would have required further weigh ins on battle night time. Except Group Volkanovski was simply screwing round on the dimensions and somebody from UFC ran to Abdelaziz with the data.
The promotion later tried (and failed) to clear up the murky rules on pre-fight IV use, which previously popped its share of high-profile fighters forward of main UFC occasions. In accordance with Abdelaziz, the mouthpieces at Metropolis Kickboxing have been speaking trash to distract from the truth that Volkanovski misplaced, honest and sq..
Makhachev was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.
“Even his coaches, they need to be well-known and say outlandish sh*t,” Abdelaziz continued. “I respect Alexander Volkanovski. I respect Israel (Adesanya), I even respect Dan Hooker, all these guys. Alexander Volkanovski misplaced, he misplaced honest and sq.. He was in his hometown, he had the group, the judges assume he misplaced. I imagine he misplaced, 4 (rounds) to at least one. That is what I imagine. You’ll be able to discuss trash earlier than the battle. All of us do. After the battle you’ll be able to’t discuss trash. I personally assume Alexander Volkanovski is an unbelievable man, an important individual, an important ambassador for the game. However if you wish to discuss sh*t, he (Volkanovski) can discuss sh*t, however he didn’t. Don’t discuss sh*t for him.”
Hooker may be held accountable for his IV whistleblowing however insists he “doesn’t care.”
