UFC 284 LIVE: Volkanovski vs Makhachev stream, latest updates and result tonight
Re-live all the action after featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski challenged lightweight title holder Islam Makhachev, and Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett clashed for interim gold
Alexander Volkanovski came up agonisingly short in his bid to become a dual-weight champion at UFC 284, suffering a narrow decision loss to Islam Makhachev on Saturday.
Australian Volkanovski entered and exited the RAC Arena in Perth as featherweight champion, but the lightweight title eluded him as 155lbs champion Makhachev secured a unanimous-decision win in enemy territory.
Volkanovski had promised to disprove doubters who had claimed he was too small to compete with Makhachev, and the 34-year-old did just that, standing almost every time he was taken down – as he had said he would – reversing grappling positions along the fence, and twice dropping the Russian with punches. Makhachev also fought an impressive fight, however, securing some clinical takedowns and dropping Volkanovski to a knee at one point and wobbling the Australian with strikes elsewhere.
Many present in the arena felt that Volkanovski had done enough to dethrone Makhachev, but the scorecards read 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 in the Russian’s favour. In fact, Makhachev will have likely dethroned Volkanovski as the UFC’s pound-for-pound No 1 fighter come Monday morning, having entered UFC 284 at No 2.
In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez claimed the interim featherweight title with a second-round submission of Josh Emmett, establishing himself as the next challenger to Volkanovski at 145lbs. Re-live updates and see results from the UFC 284 main card and prelims, below.
UFC 284 LIVE
Rodriguez vs Emmett – Round 1
Lots of hopping at range from both fighters early on. Rodriguez with a teasing teep kick that just misses.
He flicks out another then kicks low. Emmett pressures the Mexican now and blocks a head kick.
Rodriguez lands a kick to the body, though, and it seems to have hurt Emmett! The American backs off a bit to recover.
Another heavy body kick from “El Pantera”. Emmett tries to respond by pressing forward again, but he’s only thrown two punches in two-plus minutes.
UFC 284 LIVE
Bruce Buffer has made the fighter introductions... Here we go!
UFC 284 LIVE
The winner of this one should be next for Alexander Volkanovski, assuming the featherweight champion returns to 145lbs regardless of his result against lightweight title holdler Islam Makhachev tonight.
UFC 284 LIVE
For all the below notes, however, this is still a phenomenal fight on paper. The pair seem very closely matched, but there is also so much potential for an early finish.
UFC 284 LIVE
Rodriguez’s record has in fact been somewhat patchy in recent years; working back from his last fight, it reads: win, loss, win, No Contest, win, loss.
UFC 284 LIVE
Meanwhile, 30-year-old Rodriguez last fought in July, beating former title challenger Brian Ortega in 49 seconds.
Rodriguez was getting the better of the striking exchanges but won due to a shoulder injury sustained by Ortega. That said, Rodriguez seemed to inflict the injury in a grappling sequence.
UFC 284 LIVE
Furthermore, Emmett’s last bout was a controversial decision win against Calvin Kattar in June.
UFC 284 LIVE
It’s worth nothing that, for all Emmett’s power and the way in which that has factored into some predictions for this fight, the 37-year-old has gone the distance in his last three fights. His last knockout came in July 2019.
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