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UFC 284 went down in Perth, Australia, last night, and after no shortage of hype, the event largely delivered the goods.
UFC 284 saw some huge bouts with some even bigger winners, and it’s likely that those winners could go onto massive things later down the line in 2023.
With two of the results setting up a title unification bout at some point down the road, it’s likely that we’ll be feeling the ramifications of this event for some time.
Here are the five biggest winners from UFC 284: Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski.
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#5. Joshua Culibao – defeated Melsik Baghdasaryan in a UFC featherweight bout
Coming into last night’s event, it felt like most UFC fans were favoring explosive striker Melsik Baghdasaryan to overcome Australian favorite Joshua Culibao in their featherweight clash.
Despite a fast start from ‘The Gun’, though, it was Culibao who came out on top, submitting his foe impressively in the second round.
In hindsight, should ‘Kuya’ have ever been written off? Absolutely not. Last night’s win took him to 3-1-1 in the octagon and 11-1-1 in his MMA career overall.
More to the point, Culibao’s only loss came in his lone fight at 155lbs, to Jalin Turner, who is now ranked in the top 15.
How far can he go in 145lbs? It’s true that none of his wins have come over elite opposition, but last night he showed toughness and a penchant for being able to capitalize on a single mistake to win. In the cutthroat world of the octagon, that’s a great skill to have.
If you add in the fact that the Perth crowd went crazy for his win, then, it’s hard not to see Culibao as one of last night’s biggest winners.
#4. Jack Della Maddalena – defeated Randy Brown in a UFC welterweight bout
Coming into last night’s show, there was pressure on welterweight prospect Jack Della Maddalena. Not only was he faced with his toughest opponent to date in Randy Brown, but he also had a lot of hype on him as probably the second-biggest Australian star on the card.
Thankfully for everyone involved – including the UFC, who clearly rates him highly – Maddalena came through in spades.
He destroyed Brown inside a single round, dropping him with a massive right hand, hurting him with follow-up strikes, and then showing impressive poise by choking him out.
At just 26 years old, Maddalena already looks like a polished and dangerous fighter, which is hardly surprising given his solid record of 14-2. From what we’ve seen thus far, he’s capable of giving any 170lber a scare.
Who will be next for him? It’s hard to say, but one thing is for certain – this prospect needs to fight a top 15 ranked opponent next, as he looks ready for a run at the top.
Add in the fact that he claimed a $50k bonus for his work last night, there’s no disputing that he was one of the event’s biggest winners.
#3. Yair Rodriguez – defeated Josh Emmett to win the interim UFC featherweight title
While his win came in surprising fashion – via submission rather than knockout – Yair Rodriguez ended UFC 284 as the interim featherweight champion.
Logically, this should mean that ‘El Pantera’ will have a huge fight with reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski coming at some point in the near future, and that alone would make him one of last night’s biggest winners.
However, the Mexican was hugely impressive in his win over Josh Emmett. Aside from one big shot in the first round, Emmett’s vaunted punching power was totally neutralized by Rodriguez’s more dynamic striking, with the body kick in particular proving to be a key weapon.
The finish of the fight, though, came on the ground. Essentially, Emmett appeared to think he was fine from the top position – until he suddenly wasn’t. Rodriguez threw a triangle choke up largely from nowhere, and seconds later, ‘The Fighting Falmer’ had to tap out.
Given that Rodriguez hadn’t won a bout cleanly since his 2019 win over Jeremy Stephens, this was a tremendous showing from him, and it’s hard not to get excited about a clash with Volkanovski in the near future.
#2. Alexander Volkanovski – lost to Islam Makhachev in a UFC lightweight title bout
On the face of it, it seems crazy to claim that a fighter who came away with a defeat could be considered one of the biggest winners at a UFC show.
However, it would be hard to consider Alexander Volkanovski anything but a winner after his performance last night.
The reigning featherweight champion pushed current lightweight champ Islam Makhachev to his limit over five rounds. Many observers, including some of his fellow fighters, believed he’d done enough to claim the win.
In reality, ‘Alexander the Great’ came up just slightly short, giving up too many takedowns and too much control to his Dagestani foe, even if he outlanded him in terms of overall strikes.
Essentially, even though his lengthy win streak was snapped, Volkanovski proved why he’s ranked as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter right now, and that shouldn’t change after this performance.
What’s next for the Aussie? Obviously a unification bout against Yair Rodriguez back in 145lbs, but if he wins that, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him make another run at gold at 155lbs. Volkanovski might’ve lost last night, but it’s hard to call him a loser today.
#1. Islam Makhachev – defeated Alexander Volkanovski to defend the UFC lightweight title
It goes without saying that UFC 284’s biggest winner was undoubtedly Islam Makhachev. The reigning lightweight kingpin went into hostile territory in Perth, Australia, without his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, and came away with his title intact.
What’s more, he did so by handing featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski his first defeat in the octagon and his first loss overall since 2013.
Admittedly, Makhachev didn’t dominate Volkanovski in the same way that he dominated the likes of Dan Hooker, Drew Dober or Charles Oliveira. But he still clearly did enough to win.
Across the five rounds, he was able to take ‘Alexander the Great’ down on four occasions. He used those takedowns to control the Australian in the first and fourth rounds in particular, hunting for chokes from the back.
On the feet, meanwhile, Volkanovski did land more strikes, but Makhachev more than held his own, landing 60% of his significant strikes compared to 48% for the Australian.
Essentially, this was a well-rounded and impressive showing from the Dagestani, who showed that he’s far more than just a wrestler. Based on this performance against such a highly skilled fighter, it’s hard to imagine anyone dethroning him in the near future.
Should he overtake Volkanovski to be considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world? Probably not, but there’s no doubt that he’s the world’s best 155lber, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.
