Despite having a poor undercard, UFC 284 is highly anticipated by fans around the world. The event will be headlined by Islam Makhachev who will put his lightweight belt on the line against featherweight champion and pound-for-pound king Alexander Volkanovski.
While the pound for pound rankings are somewhat arbitrary the fans are excited to see Volkanovski step out of his comfort zone. But the amount of interest the event is generating might be underwhelming.
Islam Makhachev has revealed how he feels the UFC isn’t doing enough to promote his matchup with Alexander Volkanovski.
In just about ten days, the two will square off at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia. Islam’s lightweight championship will be on the line.
The defending champ talked to an RIA Novosti correspondent where he discussed the main event, his future endeavors, and his retirement.
The interviewer asked him if the upcoming event doesn’t have the hype that it should. He laid emphasis on it being the first bout between the top two P4P best in the UFC.
Islam replied by saying that Dana White is dealing with his own set of issues, so he’s not doing much to promote the show. However, he still feels like everyone in the city is excited about it.
“I see that there is not such a big promotion. White himself has bigger problems, so he does not pay much attention to this event.”
“Here in Perth, everyone knows about the matchup and is looking forward to it.”
Islam believes the UFC could’ve done a whole tour to promote the bout since this is quite a milestone.
“And in terms of pay-per-view (PPV), yes, more could have been done. I only saw Volkanovski once, in Sydney. A tour could be organized around the world, a conference could be held in America.”
The host also asked if Islam is interested in becoming a double champion after a successful defense at UFC 284.
Islam replied that he loves big events and tough competitors. So he’ll definitely move up to fight the welterweight champion if it is a big enough event.
“So I will say: this topic is relevant. I like to compete, I like to fight strong fighters. I love big fights – whoever is the welterweight champion, it’s going to be a huge fight. I’m very interested.”
Islam also said he’s not planning to retire anytime soon despite Khabib saying he sees Makhachev defending several times and retiring. He says that he’s going to compete until he has nothing left in the tank. He won’t quit unless he feels like it’s not doing anything for him.
“There’s no such thing. As long as there is dirt, I will shovel! As soon as I feel that it’s not going, it’s not the right state, I’ll leave the sport. In the meantime, I feel that everything is working out for me, with each preparation I show myself better and better. I will go to the end.”