Dan Hooker shook the internet when he accused Islam Makhachev of cheating in his UFC 284 fight against Alexander Volkanovski. The MMA community was up in arms about Makhachev’s alleged use of an IV to rehydrate following a gruesome weight cut. Fans on both sides of this debacle scrambled to find proof to solidify their claims.
Even YouTuber, The MMA Guru weighed in on this situation. He claims that Islam Makhachev used makeup to cover the bruises caused by the I.V. needles at the injection site. The YouTuber even explained how the UFC lightweight champion managed to get through the entire 25 minutes without exposing the bruises. He used the example of UFC welterweight Colby Covington to do this.
"The MMA Guru" thinks Islam wore makeup to cover his IV injection bruises that lasted through a whole 25 minute fight. Ladies, yall gotta find out what makeup brand Islam uses!#UFC284 pic.twitter.com/kGIGowtVv9
— Olin aka MMAnomaly👊 (@MMAnomaly) February 14, 2023
“People are gonna say, “Well it didn’t show up during the fight.’ And Im gonna say, Covington literally admitted to using makeup backstage to sneak a cut through the commission when he was fighting Robbie Lawler… He used the make-up lady backstage to cover up his cut so he could get to the fight.” said the MMA Guru.
Many were already postulating that Islam Makhachev used makeup to cover up the injection marks. But this video from the MMA Guru seems to have riled up fans on both sides of this argument.
Fans find proof that Islam Makhachev cheated
As mentioned earlier, fans really did scramble to find any semblance of proof that Islam Makhachev used unfair means to gain an advantage at UFC 284 against Alexander Volkanovski. And it seems they have finally found it. Twitter was littered with posts by fans claiming they had found concrete evidence of Makhachev cheating. Here are some of them:
Here is islam at the ceremonial weigh ins with a clear injection mark imo. There was one before the weigh ins, went away, one after the weigh ins, went away and for the fight thing. Very interesting and it’s crazy that this shadow keeps appearing in this one spot 😂 pic.twitter.com/YkK85IsrZ9
— SickydoesMMA (@SICKYDOESMMA) February 14, 2023
Maybe it’s just from a blood test but it’s still very suspicious especially with the hooker situation going on
— Charles🏴 (@CombatsCasual) February 14, 2023
Umm so this is the new excuse, fyi 3 instances of this now
— 𝙗𝙤𝙭 (@boxbarryhearn) February 14, 2023
Wednesday – Fighter Portraits (1st pic)
Friday – Cerermonial Weigh Ins (2nd pic)
Sunday – Days after Fight (3rd pic)
Just accept ur kings a cheat pic.twitter.com/Ey5FHyuynw
This is a good sign pic.twitter.com/vjYK9Xo8v3
— zilla (@315gh0st) February 13, 2023
Maybe these bruises tipped him off,but seriously he probably knows which nurse did it as well. pic.twitter.com/GbvthqFctt
— Enraged SS (@CobraSVTnewedge) February 14, 2023
Contradicting this, many fans claimed that no makeup would remain on a person after 25 minutes of fighting in the Octagon. They attributed the marks on Islam to the blood test conducted before the fight. This explanation is quite plausible considering these marks have shown up on Makhachev’s arms in earlier bouts. But the fact that I.V. injection marks and marks from a blood test look identical also works against this theory supporting Makhachev’s innocence.
Have you ever gotten your blood drawn while dehydrated? They have to get their blood drawn several times leading up to fight night and then after. You guys gotta stop with this bs
— MMA CHICK🧜🏼♀️ (@MMACHICK_) February 14, 2023
https://twitter.com/TheSuperstarUFC/status/1625421532963999745
The facts of this situation remain murky despite the “evidence” uncovered by MMA fans on Twitter. With Islam Makhachev not addressing these allegations directly, it seems this speculation will continue. USADA, on the other hand, has immediately responded to these allegations. But no one knows what will come of this until some concrete proof is presented against Makhachev.