Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The UFC 284 champion-vs-champion fight between Islam Makhachev and Alex Volkanovski was a no-brainer as MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from February 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
It’s rare for a UFC title fight to end by triangle choke, which is why Yair Rodriguez wins MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for March.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from February 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from February 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from February 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for February.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Daniel Cormier doesn’t like UFC champs Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski holding up their divisions if they run things back.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] believes [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] will hold up their divisions if they run things back, and the UFC Hall of Famer isn’t a big fan of that.
Featherweight champion Volkanovski (25-2 MMA, 12-1 UFC) proposed a rematch to lightweight champ Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) after taking him to the brink in their title fight at UFC 284. Makhachev edged out Volkanovski in a decision win in a fight Volkanovski thought he won.
Immediately afterward, Volkanovski suggested they rematch later this year in Abu Dhabi. But with Yair Rodriguez crowned interim featherweight champion at UFC 284 and Beneil Dariush scheduled to face Charles Oliveira at UFC 288 on May 6, Cormier would like to see Makhachev and Volkanovski focus on their own divisions.
“Islam’s got work to do in his own weight class and so does Alexander Volkanovski,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC.” “Volkanovski owes it to Yair Rodriguez to go and give him an opportunity to try to become the undisputed champion of the world.
“And I don’t know if it’s fair to Beneil Dariush if he beats Charles Oliveira to not get his chance to fight for the lightweight championship of the world. This is the danger in superfights: You get a close superfight, (and) people are clamoring to see it again. When, in reality, we have two divisions that need the champions back in order to really give us a little clarity.”
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Cormier scored the fight in favor of teammate Makhachev over Volkanovski. Although Volkanovski fell short, his valiant effort resulted in him maintaining the No. 1 spot in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 284.
Our “Spinning Back Clique” discusses the IV controversy surrounding Islam Makhachev following his title win at UFC 284.
UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] was accused of using intravenous (IV) therapy to rehydrate after weighing in for his champ vs. champ fight at UFC 284 against Alexander Volkanovski.
It all started when fellow lightweight Dan Hooker fired off a series of tweets accusing Makhachev of cheating to rehydrate by using an IV after he defeated featherweight champ Volkanovski by unanimous decision in the main event of the pay-per-view event in Perth, Australia.
In addition to Makhachev and his team denying any wrongdoing, UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky has said the Australian commission found no credible evidence of violating rules.
The accusations sparked conversations across the MMA space, so much so that the UFC issued a reminder to its fighters about what is legal and what is not when it comes to IV use during fight week.
Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Nolan King and Brian “Goze” Garcia discuss the allegations thrown in Makhachev’s direction along with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
Check out their discussion in the video above, and be sure to check out this week’s full episode below.
Five fighters, including both co-main event participants, were suspended six months for injuries sustained Down Under at UFC 284.
Five fighters face 180-day medical suspensions as a result of injuries sustained at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia.
On Monday, the Combat Sports Commission of Western Australia publicly published a full list of medical suspensions. While the commission discloses the duration of the suspensions, it does not reveal specifics of fighters’ injuries.
Co-main event participants [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag] were among the five fighters who received six-months suspensions, the longest term given to any fighters on the card.
UFC 284 took place Feb. 11 at RAC Arena and was headlined by a lightweight title fight between Islam [autotag]Makhachev[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag].
See below to check out the medical suspensions given to each fighter. It’s important to note fighters can return sooner than the conclusion of the suspension listed if they are cleared by a doctor beforehand.
Eugene Bareman thinks Alexander Volkanovski got too excited with his ground defense against Islam Makhachev in their UFC 284 title fight.
Eugene Bareman thinks [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] got too excited with his defense on the ground against [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag].
Featherweight champion Volkanovski (25-2 MMA, 12-1 UFC) was edged out by lightweight champion Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) in the UFC 284 headliner, but surprised many with his resistance on the ground.
Makhachev had a hard time holding Volkanovski down, but in Round 4, was able to secure a body triangle that won him the round. Makhachev failed to inflict any serious damage, but Bareman says Volkanovski got too excited and confident, which resulted in him getting caught in the compromising position.
“Alex was in the process of escaping before the triangle,” Bareman told Combat TV. “While Islam was on his back, Alex was in turtle. At the same time he was in turtle, he was looking at all the boys in the front row – Izzy (Adesanya), Dan (Hooker) and them – and saying, ‘I’m out.’ You know, being a little bit, in my opinion, cocky – basically acknowledging to the boys that he’s out and that Islam can’t keep him down
“And about that exact time that Alex did that, Islam jumped to the body triangle. And that just goes to show at this level of the sport, millimeters, centimeters separate us. A second, a split second of lack of concentration – that’s what separates you from the win and the loss.”
Bareman admitted he’s naturally biased saying he thought Volkanovski won, but pointed to Round 4 being the deciding five minutes.
“I thought we scraped it,” Bareman said. “But at the end of the day, the three (judges), didn’t so what does it matter? They are the people that count, and (what I think) doesn’t matter. That fourth round would have sealed the deal either way, I think, and Islam got it. Congratulations to him. He did a great job.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 284.
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Joe Lopez and Alexander Volkanovski were surprised that Islam Makhachev wasn’t as strong as they expected in the UFC 284 main event.
Joe Lopez and [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] were surprised [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] wasn’t as strong as they expected.
Featherweight champion Volkanovski (25-2 MMA, 12-1 UFC) took lightweight champ Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) to the brink in their superfight, which headlined UFC 284. But ultimately, he fell short in a decision loss.
No one had been able to stop Makhachev’s grappling prowess, and with Volkanovski moving a weight class up to challenge Makhachev, the odds weren’t in his favor. But as Volkanovski vowed he would, he constantly got back up and Makhachev struggled to control him on the ground.
“Islam had this stigma about him as like the boogeyman – he’s very super strong, all these things about him,” Lopez told The AllStar. “Alex just debunked a whole lot, because I asked Alex in the third round, I said, ‘Is he strong?’ And he went, ‘No, he’s not strong. He doesn’t feel strong at all,’ And I went, ‘Well, take him down yourself.’
“I could see a lot of the times he was just hanging on, he wasn’t this super freaky strongish guy that everybody made out to be. If anything, Alex is a really super freaky strong guy. If he gets ahold of you, you know it.”
Makhachev won the fight by unanimous decision. Round 2 was perhaps the closest, but Makhachev was awarded that round by all three judges. Lopez admitted he initially thought Volkanovski lost that round, but after watching it back, he thinks he won it.
“We watched the fight back about two or three times and I actually thought Alex won – not only myself, but everyone that was in the room thought that Alex had won that second round,” Lopez said. “When I looked at it, I thought he got knocked down. But actually with the punch, he got caught. He got caught coming in and it just caught him off balance.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 284.
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The UFC’s return to Australia featured an early Fight of the Year candidate. Check out the super-slow motion highlights.
The UFC’s return to Australia featured a battle between the pound-for-pound best.
UFC 284, which took place this past Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, marked the promotion’s first event in Australia since 2019. The card featured a superfight between the UFC’s No. 1 and No. 2 pound-for-pound fighters, an interim featherweight title fight and a showcase of plenty of Aussie talent.
In the main event, Islam Makhachev retained his lightweight title against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who tested Makhachev like no one has before. Volkanovski was a big underdog, and his valiant effort resulted in him maintaining the No. 1 pound-for-pound spot, despite losing the fight.
With the event now in the books, the UFC has released the latest edition of “Fight Motion,” a feature of super-slow motion video highlights looking back at the event.
Check it out above.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 284.
Henry Cejudo wants Alexander Volkanovski even more coming out of UFC 284.
[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] thinks he’d give [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] a tougher test than [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] did at UFC 284.
Featherweight champion Volkanovski (25-2 MMA, 12-1 UFC) took lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) to the brink in their title fight this past Saturday but ultimately fell short.
Although Volkanovski kept his No. 1 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings, former UFC dual champion Cejudo wasn’t entirely sold on his performance.
“So, a lot of people are dismissing me now,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “Alexander Volkanovski had an amazing performance against a guy who has never been in five rounds with somebody for the first time.”
He continued, “Kudos, Alexander. You did a great job. You went all five rounds, and people thought you won. The problem that I have is when I went up a weight class I stopped ’em. There was no decision that I was going to allow the judges to take this from me. I went out there, I stopped him, and I did what I had to do to really solidify yourself as champ-champ.”
Volkanovski was competitive with Makhachev both on the feet and on the ground, but Cejudo says his skillset is better than Makhachev’s.
“Sometimes people will overhype something, and I’m guilty of it, too,” Cejudo said. “Guess what, Alexander? I wasn’t giving you a chance with Islam Makhachev. Why? Because I just thought he was bigger, and too much of that wrestler would probably overwhelm you. I am man enough to say, ‘Hey, Alexander Volkanovski’s a lot better than I thought he was defensively.’
“OK, he defended a couple takedowns, but guess what? Islam’s not an Olympic champion. Guess what? Islam doesn’t have my striking. Guess what? He’s not faster than me. Guess what? Yeah, he is bigger than me, but I’m a smaller target. It’s the same reason why people are super problematic with Alexander Volkanovski. He’s short, he’s fun size.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 284.
