While it may seem like the UFC 284
main event hasn’t received the attention it deserves, Dana White
says that simply isn’t the case.
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The event features a showdown for the lightweight belt between two
of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters in Islam
Makhachev and Alexander
Volkanovski. In a recent interview with RSports
Russia, Makhachev voiced concerns that more promotion for the
pay-per-view could have been done.
“I see that it is not such big promotion,” Makhachev said. “Dana
White himself has some problems. He does not pay much attention to
this fight. Here in Perth, everyone knows about the fight and is
looking forward to it. And in terms of pay-per-view, yes, more
could have been done. I only saw Volkanovski once, in Sydney. A
tour could be organized around the world. A [news] conference could
be held in America.”
In many cases, the week-to-week grind of the MMA schedule limits
the focus on any one event. However, White claims that Makhachev’s
interview was potentially mistranslated or taken out of context. He
also believes that Makhachev may be disconnected in part because of
where he lives. In an interview on The
Jim Rome Show, the UFC president claimed that UFC 284 is
trending to be one of the top pay-per-views in organization
history.
“Yeah, that’s not true,” White said (H/T
MMAFighting.com). “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.
“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,”
White added “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.”
Tthe UFC, of course, does not release buy rates for its premium
events, though occasionally industry estimates will provide a
reasonable idea of how well one has sold. Whether UFC 284 proves to
be one of the top sellers ever remains to be seen.
UFC 284 takes place at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on Saturday.
In addition to the Makhachev-Volkanovski headliner, the event will
see Yair
Rodriguez square off against Josh Emmett
for the interim featherweight crown in the co-headliner. The main
card airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while
prelims begin on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT before moving to ESPN
and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.