GDT: UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski

[MMC]

Date: February 12, 2023
Venue: Jeunesse Arena
City: Perth, Australia
Time: 10 pm ET/7 pm PT (February 11th)
Viewing: PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

Lightweight Championship bout: Islam Makhachev (c) vs. Alexander Volkanovski
Interim Featherweight Championship bout: Yair Rodriguez vs. Josh Emmett
Welterweight bout: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Randy Brown
Heavyweight bout: Justin Tafa vs. Parker Porter
Light Heavyweight bout: Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, TSN5)

Light Heavyweight bout: Tyson Pedro vs. Modestas Bukauskas
Featherweight bout: Josh Culibao vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
Flyweight bout: Shannon Ross vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
Lightweight bout: Jamie Mullarkey vs. Francisco Prado

EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass)

Featherweight bout: Jack Jenkins vs. Don Shainis
Women's Strawweight bout: Loma Lookboonmee vs. Elise Reed
Featherweight bout: Shane Young vs. Blake Bilder
Lightweight bout: Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Elves Brener​

Click to read more...

 

[m9]

Couple interesting fights on the undercard.

Francisco Prado is 11-0 and 20 years old fighting tomato cans in South America and is thrown right in there vs a pretty tough Jamie Mullarkey.

Culibao's only loss was to Jalin Turner at 155lbs and he's a pick-em here.

JDM v Randy Brown will be fun for as long as Randy Brown can stay conscious.

I like Yair over Emmett. Much more dynamic on the feet and I think he'll be able to use his length effectively.

Islam at -400 and I can't even argue with it. You can get the p4p top guy at +325.. just insane. If Volk can pull this off then you're talking about cementing him as a top ten p4p all-time guy IMO.

 

[pistolpete11]

It's hard for me to see Volk winning. His TDD is solid, but not great. He doesn't have much power even down a weight class. His next submission will be his first inside the UFC. That Dagestani wrestling is just too hard to handle over 5 rounds. Would have liked his chances much better against Oliveira. I'm rooting for him, though. Would be a really cool moment for one of the more under appreciated champs.

I like Yair in this fight. He's squarely in his prime whereas Emmett is going to be 38 in a month. Although it was a loss, I thought Yair looked great against Max last time out (excluding the Ortega fight that ended prematurely). Emmett did not look great against a lesser opponent in Kattar. Emmett does have power, but I feel like he loads up on it too often. Yair will be the quicker guy, so I think he'll be able to avoid those big bombs kind of like he was able to do against Stephens.

Not a ton else for me. Maybe a couple of fights that I would have had more interest in if this wasn't a PPV, but it just all seems so underwhelming to get excited about after the top 2.

 

[Taytro]

I think Volk is strong beyond his weight class but will be interested in seeing how he deals with that Dagestani wrestling pressure.

I'd have said Volk has a significant striking advantage but was shocked by Islam's hands in his last fight. Volk should have a significant hand speed advantage, and I'd expect a gastank advantage if he's able to keep it on the feet. If it goes to the ground Islam can obviously do that all day long. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I want Emmett vs Yair but I think Yair takes it. He looked phenomenal vs Max and I think this is his chance to truly display his skills and progress. If he can keep some range he should pick Emmett apart across 5 rounds.

 

[MMC]

 

[CDJ]

Kurt Angle sighting ok

 

[MMC]

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Well, if we're honest, the only angle to market that fight is to present Makhachev as a villain and Volkanovski as the freedom-loving hero, the way WWF used to always have someone from an 'enemy nation' as a heel and then some all-American guy as the face. Not sure if that's what the guy wants.

I don't claim to be an MMA expert, but it seems like Makhachev should easily defeat Volkanovski given that he's the bigger dude with the vastly superior ground game in a sport where that's usually the decisive element.

 

[m9]

Well, if we're honest, the only angle to market that fight is to present Makhachev as a villain and Volkanovski as the freedom-loving hero, the way WWF used to always have someone from an 'enemy nation' as a heel and then some all-American guy as the face. Not sure if that's what the guy wants.

I don't claim to be an MMA expert, but it seems like Makhachev should easily defeat Volkanovski given that he's the bigger dude with the vastly superior ground game in a sport where that's usually the decisive element.

I'm sure the promo for "All-American" Alex Volkanovski will go well, don't see any issues there.

Seriously though, Dana just got off a presser where he couldn't even remember the guy's name. If you are so out of it that you can't even think of the name of one of your champions a week out from his champ v champ fight then maybe sit this conversation out and shut the f*** up for a couple of weeks.

Dana's attitude worked in the past because at the end of the day he was still an engaged fight fan who knew his stuff. He comes across as a checked out dude just cashing paycheques and it's annoying.

 

[MD thaivuN]

I think Volk is the best fighter in the world, but he's just too small for that fight.

 

[pistolpete11]

Well, if we're honest, the only angle to market that fight is to present Makhachev as a villain and Volkanovski as the freedom-loving hero, the way WWF used to always have someone from an 'enemy nation' as a heel and then some all-American guy as the face. Not sure if that's what the guy wants.

I don't claim to be an MMA expert, but it seems like Makhachev should easily defeat Volkanovski given that he's the bigger dude with the vastly superior ground game in a sport where that's usually the decisive element.

The angle is it is champion vs. champion and the #1 vs. #2 P4P fighter in the world. I don't think any amount of promotion is going to make this a huge PPV in the US, but if you're going to try, that's the play.

 

[m9]

I think the lack of interest in the media this week - albeit it's a sneaky busy sports week - is kind of telling. Even this thread only has a few posts.

The UFC botched this and this was not the right time for the #1 v #2 p4p. Both guys - especially Islam - needed a couple of big wins so we had some hype behind this fight. It's not an interesting matchup because of the size discrepancy.

Now there's always the hope the actual fight delivers (maybe Volk even wins) and all is forgotten. But sitting here today, it's still puzzling why they made this fight.

 

[16Skippy]

I'm sure the promo for "All-American" Alex Volkanovski will go well, don't see any issues there.

Seriously though, Dana just got off a presser where he couldn't even remember the guy's name. If you are so out of it that you can't even think of the name of one of your champions a week out from his champ v champ fight then maybe sit this conversation out and shut the f*** up for a couple of weeks.

Dana's attitude worked in the past because at the end of the day he was still an engaged fight fan who knew his stuff. He comes across as a checked out dude just cashing paycheques and it's annoying.

Why stay on top of a PPV event headlined by a champ vs champ fight when you can promote some big fat guys slapping each other half to death?

Well, if we're honest, the only angle to market that fight is to present Makhachev as a villain and Volkanovski as the freedom-loving hero, the way WWF used to always have someone from an 'enemy nation' as a heel and then some all-American guy as the face. Not sure if that's what the guy wants.

I don't claim to be an MMA expert, but it seems like Makhachev should easily defeat Volkanovski given that he's the bigger dude with the vastly superior ground game in a sport where that's usually the decisive element.

The 'enemy nation' thing doesn't really work though because they want the sport to keep growing globally, and Makhachev is Khabib's friend and protege who was well liked himself. They should be promoting this as a 'superfight' but they're asleep at the wheel for some reason.

But you're right that Makhachev should be the favourite here.

 

[Taytro]

Why stay on top of a PPV event headlined by a champ vs champ fight when you can promote some big fat guys slapping each other half to death?

Woah Woah Woah, easy there tiger. They aren't all big fat guys slapping each other'.. there's other weight classes too. There's some skinny guys mixed in and even the occasional female slap fight!

 

[chicagoskycam]

I predict Volk gets choked out in the 1st round. Booked early Vday reservations Sat so I can at least catch some of the main cards, outside of the two last fights I won't be missing much.

 

[I am not exposed]

I think the lack of interest in the media this week - albeit it's a sneaky busy sports week - is kind of telling. Even this thread only has a few posts.

The UFC botched this and this was not the right time for the #1 v #2 p4p. Both guys - especially Islam - needed a couple of big wins so we had some hype behind this fight. It's not an interesting matchup because of the size discrepancy.

Now there's always the hope the actual fight delivers (maybe Volk even wins) and all is forgotten. But sitting here today, it's still puzzling why they made this fight.

The interim fight is also whatever for me. I mean, Emmett. Who imo lost to Kattar. And Yair, with that weird win. Meh. When was the last interim title fight that was so meh? Probably a crappy women's fight I can't remember.

And then the rest of the main card! Does not look like a PPV at all. I get it is in Australia, but damn. Losing Whittaker on this card hurt big time.

 

[pistolpete11]

The interim fight is also whatever for me. I mean, Emmett. Who imo lost to Kattar. And Yair, with that weird win. Meh. When was the last interim title fight that was so meh? Probably a crappy women's fight I can't remember.

And then the rest of the main card! Does not look like a PPV at all. I get it is in Australia, but damn. Losing Whittaker on this card hurt big time.

It's a fine enough fight, but I agree it's underwhelming for a co-main and interim title fight. Would have been more excited for Yair-Allen. Don't know that either of them give Volk any problems, but they're young enough that they could still be around for a while. Even if Emmett wins, how much longer does he have?

And yeah, losing Whittaker hurts. I'm not sure the timing of all these announcements or when they realized that Whittaker wasn't going to happen, but I wonder if they just slapped the interim title on to Yair-Emmett when they lost Whittaker.

 

[MMC]

Rodrigues, and Tukhugov, who moved up to LW for this one after missing weight for his last FW fight, missed weight, everyone else made

 

[pistolpete11]

Rodriguez, and Tukhugov, who moved up to LW for this one after missing weight for his last FW fight, missed weight, everyone else made

That's Rodrigues with a 's', not a 'z'. As in Kleydson Rodrigues and not Yair Rodriguez.

 

[Roof Daddy]

First of all, did Dana White turn into J-Roc?

“Why you countin all my know what I’m sayins? You takin a know what I’m census?”

 

[MMC]

 

[BGDDYKWL]

I have no problem with the main event, Volkanovski paid his dues at 145, but I don't know, it just doesn't feel like a "superfight" to me. And I realize Volk is number 1 p4p right now, but I don't think he'd be favored over Poirier, Chandler, Oliveira, Conor, maybe even Dariush and Gaethje as well.

I don't feel like there's much of the "I have no idea who will win" mystique that a superfight typically has.

Volk has 3 finishes in the past 7 years (and I realize a lot of that time was against Holloway who no one can finish). One was a washed up Mendes who isn't a 145er, one was a washed up Zombie that while a good stoppage, even that wasn't a traditional finish.

I've seen a fair amount of people pick Volk here, how does he win? Or is it just the Australian contingent being loyal? The size difference is enormous. He's finished a third of his fights in the UFC, but he's gonna finish Islam? I just don't see it. Do people think the speed is gonna surprise Islam? I guess that's possible.

I think Paul Craig said he'd win by heel hook. I think some sorta flukish scramble sub is the only path here.

I realize Islam isn't Khabib, but we hear the same things about them. That they feel like HWs when they're on top of you. Getting up from a Mendes takedown isn't the same as getting Islam off of you, and I think that's gonna be evident early in the fight.

I think Islam makes this look like the fight never should've taken place.

 

[MMC]

Surprised they gave that one to Brener

 

[MMC]

Damn, Jessica Andrade filling in for Taila Santos against Blanchfield next week.

 

[m9]

Prado loses quite soundly. Bizarre match-making having the 2nd youngest guy in the UFC in such a tough fight.

Nice finish for Rodrigues, just ran over Ross.