Topics: MMA, UFC, Alexander Volkanoski, Australia
Islam Makahchev’s win over Alex Volkanovski at UFC 284 has been the centre of controversy over the past week.
It was a tightly fought bout that could’ve gone either way, however, many sided with the Australian despite the judges’ decision.
However, while the debate has raged on over whether the judges made the right call, the real controversy arose after MMA star Dan Hooker made a stunning accusation.
The New Zealand fighter claimed that Islam Makhachev used an intravenous (IV) infusion to help him rehydrate ahead of his bout against Alexander Volkanovski.
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The New Zealand fighter labelled the Russian a ‘cheating dog’ in an outrageous Twitter rant.
He tweeted: “Dumb c**t thinks he can fly to Australia to hire a nurse to give him an I.V and we won’t find out.
“Cheating dog.”
And while there was no public evidence to support these claims, Makahchev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz came out to defend his fighter.
Although, he may have inadvertently admitted that the Russian did ‘cheat’ in the process.
In a since-deleted tweet, he said: “For all those idiots out there, any fighter under the UFC banner can take 2-3 litres of IV as long as it's done by a nurse or a professional. Next week, I'm gonna expose everybody. Islam Makhachev is the pound-for-pound king.”
And although he sounded convincing in his assertion, it seems as though he may have been mistaken and decided to take down the tweet.
Combat journalist Ariel Helwani addressed the comments and pointed out that Abdelaziz may have made some miscalculations.
Helwani tweeted: “He deleted it [the tweet] because someone, I would think, told him he was incriminating himself with this tweet. You can't take 2-3 L by a professional or not. It's 100 ml per 12 hours. Massive difference.”
Meanwhile, many have pointed out that the Western Australia Combat Sports Commission outright prohibits deliberate rehydration.
And USADA rules claim that Commission rules trump their own if they prohibit IVs altogether.
Volkanvoski’s coach Eugene Bareman appeared on The MMA Hour to chat about the situation, and although he refused to outright accuse the lightweight champion of cheating he did admit ‘something was going on there’.
He said: “Alex and the rest of the team are laughing because we’re like, something’s going on there, we just can’t reliably say what it is.
“It’s frustrating because the whole sport should be played on an even playing field. Then again, you can’t reliably say that Islam cheated, so I wouldn’t go out there and say that in the manner that Dan did. That’s just — I don’t think you can reliably say that. But something was going on there.”
