Islam Makhachev recently expressed his dissatisfaction with the UFC’s promotion of his upcoming title defence against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284.
UFC president Dana White was quite displeased when the allegations caught tractions and initially pretended to even forget Makhachev’s name.
Now he’s taken his retaliation one step further by saying that the lightweight champion is ignorant about what he is talking about.
White was questioned about Makhachev’s remarks when making an appearance on The Jim Rome Show. He answered:
“Yeah, that’s not true. 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.”
He 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… So to say that the fight hasn’t been [promoted], that’s just ridiculous. That’s what you call some internet BS.”
The match is expected to do well because of what is at stake. While Islam Makhachev will aim to become the no. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Alexander Volkanovski will compete to become the fifth double champion in UFC history.
Islam Makhachev expressed his discontent with the marketing of the bout. The lightweight champion said in a statement to R-Sport Russia:
“I see that it is not such a big promotion. Dana White himself has some problems. He does not pay much attention to this fight. In terms of pay-per-view, yes, more could have been done.”
He also added:
“I only saw Volkanovski once, in Sydney. A tour could be organized around the world, a conference could be held in America.”