UFC President Dana White fired back at lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, over his recent comments sharing his disappointment with the promotion of his matchup against reigning featherweight champ, Alexander Volkanovski, this weekend at UFC 284 in Australia.
White spoke with Jim Rome on his show Tuesday and addressed Makhachev's critiques with the following response.
“Yeah, that’s not true,” White said (h/t MMA Fighting). “First of all, I’ve talked to Islam. First of all, who interviewed him? Who translated for him? I mean, the guy speaks Russian. Taken out of context, like most of the things in the media. First of all, he lives in Dagestan. What does he know about what’s going on for the promotion of the fight? He doesn’t know anything. It’s going to be one of the top-five biggest fights of all-time. First of all, the event sold out. Right? You couldn’t get a ticket if you wanted to get a ticket in Perth. And this thing is trending right now to be the biggest pay-per-view event in Australia, which, it’s like six percent behind the Conor McGregor [vs. Dustin] Poirier 3 fight. It’s probably going to break the record. So to say that the fight hasn’t been [promoted], that’s just ridiculous. That’s what you call some internet BS.”
Dana sounds pumped about UFC 284. pic.twitter.com/7fzEDQiuxo
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) February 5, 2023
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