They breed ‘em tough in Dagestan. They breed ‘em fairly tough in the Illawarra, too, but there’s levels to this game and Wollongong, politely, isn’t it.
The fighting pride of the ‘Gong, Alexander Volkanovski, would do well to bear this in mind when he enters the Octagon at UFC 284 in Perth this Sunday afternoon.
The man on the other side of the cage, Islam Makhachev, has taken down plenty bigger prey than him before. After all, when you grow up fighting bears in the Russian mountains, the UFC probably seems quite simple.
MMA is a sport that sells itself in a particularly florid fashion, but really, this contest at RAC Arena doesn’t need much of that.
It’s the number one pound for pound fighter in the sport, the home favourite, the featherweight champion, returning to Australia after years of absence, to take on the second-ranked in the pound for pound ratings, the lightweight champion, for all the belts. If you’re a UFC tragic, you can probably stop reading now because the sale is complete.
If you’re not, however, can I interest you in a bear-fighting Russian bad ass? Dagestan, where Makhachev was born and raised, is the primordial soup of MMA fighters, a place where kids are taught to wrestle as soon as they can stand and, once they’re done with each other, they turn on the local fauna.
Sandwiched between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, Dagestan something of a rough neighbourhood geopolitically speaking, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the tough bugger output is high.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, probably their greatest export, was put into the UFC Hall of Fame roughly four seconds after he retired unbeaten. He’s been with Islam since day dot and usually does his corner, though this will be the first time he doesn’t travel with his great mate.
There’s another 25 fighters signed to the UFC from the mountainous region, which given that the population is a shade over 3 million, is frankly ridiculous. Oh, and their combined record is over 140 wins, 11 losses.
So why are they so good? Well, wrestling is the national sport, which helps. Russia were banned from the 2020 Olympics, but of the Russians competing under a neutral flag, two Dagestanis won gold medals in wrestling and a third was from Ingushetia, just next door.
They’re also masters at Sambo, too, the Russian martial art that sits somewhere between the controlled, technical mastery judo and the aggression seen in MMA. If you’re good at wrestling and at sambo, invariably you go alright in the UFC.
That would be an understatement as far as Makhachev is concerned. He went through the usual Dagestani upbringing of wrestling as soon as he could walk, learning the ropes of sambo technique and, yes, taking on baby bears.
He rattled through 12 unbeaten early in his career, before copping a bump back down to earth by being knocked out by Brazilian fighter Adriano Martins in 2015.
The loss spurred him on further, and since then, it’s been a clean 11 victories. Since the Covid-induced break, he hasn’t even needed the judges: five wins, five finishes inside the distance.
He rocks up in Perth with the expectation of one of the proudest fighting peoples of the world on his back. Volkanovski, of course, knows all about expectations.
It’s journalistic etiquette now that we mention the Alexander the Great quote about weeping because he had no worlds to conquer – because the metaphor for Volka, who styles himself after the Greek-Macedonian hero of antiquity, is too good to turn down.
The Greek-Macedonian by way of Illawarra adopted the nickname and promptly beat everyone else at his weight, including Max Holloway, the previous kingpin of the division, three times. When Volkanovski won the first time, it was voted Upset of the Year. By the third, there was nothing surprising about it.
Having cleaned up at 66kgs, Volka now jumps to take on Makhachev at 70kg in a bid to become a ‘champ-champ’, a two-weight world champion. The Dagestani, of course, comes in at his natural weight and will be the Aussie’s biggest ever test.
It shouldn’t phase Volkanovski: he was a prop forward in the Illawarra comp at close to 100kgs before turning to MMA, so his body can certainly take the extra pounds.
In terms of making the limit, it will more have been around building some muscle and cutting less off than struggling to get to his usual 66kgs – indeed, don’t back against him campaigning at this level going forwards as he ages and the cuts get tougher.
Make no mistake, though. He’s going in at the deep end by taking on the Lightweight king first up. But, when there are no more worlds to conquer, you have to shoot for the stars, right?
It’s been a long time between drinks for Aussie UFC fans, but we couldn’t have wished for a better proposition for some of the most passionate UFC diehards around.
Our love affair with live UFC set to resume this Sunday with Perth due to host UFC 284, with home favourite Volkanovski defending his lightweight title against Islam Makhachev, and naturally, Aussie MMA fans are pumped.
Not only are we one of the best nations in the world at MMA – certainly in terms of population – we’re also one of the most passionate UFC fanbases, with late Saturday night entertainment in the USA giving us a cushy afternoon timeslot, ideal for a few beers on a Sunday arvo.
Volkanovski hasn’t had a bout on home soil since the last time the UFC roadshow pulled into Perth in 2018, but in the meantime, he’s made a habit of turning up on his opponent’s turf and ruining the party: he defeated legend Jose Aldo in Brazil, then accounted for Max Holloway no fewer than three times in the States.
Now, he returns home a living legend, ranked number one in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings and looking to cement his legacy in front of his Aussie fans.
In his way stands his biggest test yet: Lightweight champ Makhachev.
The Russian-born fighter has lost just once – and that was all the way back in 2015 – and is ranked second in the pound-for-pound rankings, leading to the rare occasion where one and two are close enough in weight to face off.
He has been in destructive form in the last two years, finishing all five of his fights inside the distance since the pandemic-enforced layoff.
Volka is king of the Featherweights, Makhachev is king of the Lightweights and something has to give.
With the fight taking place for the Russian’s title, the Aussie could become the first men’s two-weight world champion since Henry Cejudo in 2019 and the first to do it in these divisions since Conor McGregor, arguably the biggest star in the history of the spot.
Suffice to say: this is not one to be missed.
The second main event is another title fight, with Mexican fighter Yair Rodriguez taking on American opponent Josh Emmett for the interim featherweight title, with a likely shot at Volkanovski for the full championship on offer for the winner, if the Aussie champ chooses to continue campaigning at the lower weight.
Unsurprisingly given the venue, the UFC 284 card is packed with Aussie talent further down the register. The lead on the Preliminary card is fan’s favourite Tyson Pedro, who goes in with British-based Lithuanian Modestas Bukauskas.
Following him will be Hunter Valley native Jimmy Crute, looking to snap a two-fight losing streak in the UFC against Alonzo Menifield, followed by Brisbane’s Justin Tafa, who tangles with Parker Porter.
Sure to raise the roof at third from the top is hometown fighter Jack Della Maddalena, who looks to back up three wins in the UFC with a fourth in Perth. He faces Randy Brown, a veteran of 14 fights in the Octagon and unbeaten in his laast four.
The main event in UFC is usually around 5pm AEDT and this should be no different. The card begins at 2pm, so with everything scheduled for maximum ease of viewing in the USA, times will be roughly the same as any other UFC event despite this one taking place in Australia.
That means a late breakfast start in Perth, with the undercard beginning at 11am local time, but a more leisurely 2pm on the East Coast with a potential for the main event around 5pm in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne,
Like all UFC events, this one is on Foxtel for subscribers and Kayo for streamers, via the Main Event PPV strand.
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