Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski approaches at light speed as UFC 284 draws closer. The lightweight title fight between the reigning UFC featherweight champion and the UFC lightweight champion will surely be a spectacle to behold. So where will Islam Makhachev defend his belt for the first time?
UFC 284 is set to air out of the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on February 11, 2023, at 7 PM PST. The arena can hold up to 15,500 people. The event has been sold out since November as fans cannot contain their excitement for the main event.
The tickets for the event cost fans anywhere from AU$200-5000 ($142-355). An additional transaction fee and other taxes were also levied on the ticket. Despite the somewhat steep pricing, UFC 284 sold out very quickly.
Despite the immense anticipation and interest in this mega-fight, it will not come close to breaking the UFC attendance record. In 2019, Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker set that record at UFC 243 with 57,127 fans watching them fight. However, that event took place at the much larger Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
Nevertheless, it is plausible that Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski could have broken this record had they been given the opportunity. Volkanovski is the #1 ranked P4P fighter in the UFC. On the other hand, Makhachev is fresh off a dominant showing against Charles Oliveira at UFC 280.
UFC 284: main card and prelims preview
UFC 284 will be headlined by the aforementioned lightweight title bout between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. The co-main event for the evening will be an interim featherweight title bout between Josh Emmett and Yair Rodriguez. They are ranked #5 and #2 among the UFC featherweights.
Other bouts on the main card include Justin Tafa vs Parker Porter at heavyweight and Randy Brown vs Jack Della Maddalena at welterweight. The light heavyweight fight between Alonso Menifield vs Jimmy Crute will kick off proceedings in Australia as the first main card fight of UFC 284.
The prelims will be concluded with Tyson Pedro vs Zhang Mingyang in a light heavyweight bout, preceded by Joshua Culibao vs Melsik Baghdasaryan at featherweight. The preliminary card will, however, be kicked off by Shannon Ross vs Kleydson Rodrigues at flyweight.
The main card was also supposed to include a middleweight fight between beloved local Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa. However, some shenanigans relating to Borrachinha’s contract led to that bout being canceled. And Whittaker confirmed that fans would not be seeing their hometown hero in action at the RAC Arena. The UFC failed to line up a replacement opponent for The Reaper and he will now fight later in the year.
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