UFC lightweight Dan Hooker recently took to Twitter in an explosive rant, during which he accused Islam Makhachev of being a cheat.
UFC 284 was headlined by Makhachev defending his lightweight title versus Alexander Volkanovski. The pair went to war in a back-and-forth contest, which ultimately saw the Russian fighter have his hand raised via unanimous decision.
The pair were awarded the Fight of the Night bonus for their efforts. However, many fans were left feeling like the judges' scorecards didn't do justice to Volkanovski's performance.
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Now, following the event, Dan Hooker has potentially sent shockwaves throughout the MMA world after he claimed that one fighter had used IV infusions prior to the fight in Australia:
"Dumb c*nt thinks he can fly to Australia hire a nurse to give him an I.V and we won't find out. Cheating dog."
Intravenous infusions are against the UFC's athlete policy as they can be potentially used to alter results from a fighter's bloodwork, such as hiding positive results from the use performance enhancing drugs.
'The Hangman' continued his tirade by telling fans that the fighter wouldn't have been able to win the bout without cheating before eventually naming Islam Makhachev as the alleged culprit:
"He doesn't cheat, he doesn't win."
"Islam is a cheat."
As of now, there has been no official response from Islam Makhachev, his team or the UFC.
Alexander Volkanovski discusses mid-fight trash talk with Islam Makhachev
Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev's bout truly lived up to the hype as the pair went to war with one another. Both fighters had their moments, and each certainly proved they belong at the top of the UFC's pound-for-pound list.
Throughout the fight, whilst the pair traded strikes and wrestled on the mat, they were also seen talking to one another on more than one occasion. Volkanovski addressed the conversation in his post-fight presser, where he stated that both he and Makhachev regularly exchanged words during the rounds:
"When you're in positions like that - I'm not being a d**k, I'm not being disrespectful - but it's get in his head. Even when he had me, I'm like going, 'Well, you're not that strong.' I'll say stuff like that, then he's there, I'm going, 'You're just hanging on.' I'll go, 'You said 15 seconds, you're going to drag me to deep waters.' That type stuff. I remember that stuff as I go. He was hanging on for dear life."
Catch Volkanovski's comments here: