UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Honestly felt quite the opposite. I thought Volk looked a little more wide-eyed than usual.
But that's just an observation; I think it's usually pretty silly to read heavy into microexpressions and whatnot.

I don't think either guy is unhealthily nervous. 

Don’t know if this is a hot take, but I believe people look too much into weigh ins face offs, I don’t think it matter unless it’s a size comparison thing, if you gonna pick Volk before, kept picking Volk, if you gonna pick Islam, pick Islam 

Dont you guys think islam is still new to top competition? His only good win is charles who he exploited that charles still mentally checks out during the fights if your confident and not scared of his bjj. Thats why he didnt get a rematch. But looking back is charles REALLY that good as we thought he was. Dustin and justin fought soo scared of his bjj. And chandler isnt champion material. And tony got exploited by justin. So who is Islams best win if it isnt charles? Volk is the TRUE test for islam! he doesnt check out hes physically and mentally strong! Which is gonna make islam hesitant!

yeah, and tommorow you will say Islams only good win is Charles and Volk, but Volk is 145er midget, so who did he beat?

Ok maybe im drunk but all this bickering is silly both are good champs in their right.
Volks resume is better with less finishes.
Lets just be friends and enjoy the violence 😃

Makhachev vs. Volkanovski
Islam Makhachev, DEC
Islam is much better!!!

Rodriguez vs. Emmett
Josh Emmett, DEC
El Patera is such a good fighter, but he does not have maintenance

Brown vs. Maddalena
Jack Della Maddalena, TKO, R1
Maddalena is so sharp for terrific fighting!!!

Tafa vs. Porter
Parker Porter, DEC
Parker is more skilled than if tafa will tko or ko Parker may win

Crute vs. Menifield
Jimmy Crute, DEC
Near fight!!!

Pedro vs. Bukauskas
Tyson Pedro, TKO, R1
Pedro is eligible for doing that

Culibao vs. Baghdasaryan
Melsik Baghdasaryan, DEC
Face to face was good with sore throat

Rodrigues vs. Ross
Kleydson Rodrigues, TKO, R2
Rodriguez is much better

Mullarkey vs. Prado
Francisco Prado, TKO, R2
Young fighter seems to me so exciting

Jenkins vs. Shainis
Jack Jenkins, TKO, R2
Jack is better and he can ko easily

Lookboonmee vs. Reed
Loma Lookboonmee, DEC
This fight can be the most boring one

Bilder vs. Young
Blake Bilder, DEC
Bilder has good greepling

Tukhugov vs. Brenner
Zubaira Tukhugov, DEC
Zubaira is the one of the best fighter

What do you mean 9 hours? They have 24 , no?

I am hammering out the jack Jenkins by finish for around evens odds I seen something about him that he broke his last 7 opponents legs or something due to leg kicks and he’s no doubt going to **** shainis up wherever the fight goes

Last 4 I think it was actually

Funny how Adraino Martins who KO'ed Islam haven't won any fight after that. 5 lossed in the row.

Funny how damien Browne the guy who sparked volk hasnt had a win in ages and how artmij sitenkov a bantamweight that tapped conrat is 13.15 

Some real mental gymnastics here 🤣 what about volk he didn't fight anyone good either 

The closer it gets the less I trust yair to win. His takedown defence is awful, max took him down at will. I doubt emmet can compete with him standing but I don’t think yair has fixed that problem either 

Yes comparing volk when he was green and fighting s welterweight. Completely relevant to what would happen now 

Makhachev vs. Volkanovski
Alexander Volkanovski, DEC
For some reason I have a feeling that Volk has a deeper understanding of the game that people give him credit for. I believe Oliveira could've had a better chance of beating Islam if he was in the correct headspace. It will be interesting if Volkanovski can make Islam fight backwards.

Islam
Dagestanis are different. And out of the Dagestanis, Khabib, Islam and Umar are different. Love Volk and think he is rightfully the best pound for pound fighter in MMA right now, but Islam will win. His claim of wanting to knock Volk out is a smoke screen to lull Volk into a false sense of comfort going into the fight, bit Islam will wrestle, grapple and most likely win this fight on the ground.

Yair
Let's be real guys, while Emmett is a good fighter, he didn't win his last fight and arguably is past his prime. Man is 37 and throws very little volume. He also looked like a skeleton after his weight cut. I think he presents some problems on the ground for Yair but his lack of wrestling throughout his biggest fights up until now is nothing to bank on. Yair is bigger, faster, fresher, waaaay more diverse in his striking and just as (if not more) durable than Josh. Stylistically a great matchup for Yair too and I think the UFC would rather have him win should fight come down to biased judging. May be the best value for money play on this card in my opinion.

Jack Della
Man's boxing is too slick and knows how to get on the inside of taller fighters. Randy is far from an easy challenge but I think Jack's power and shot selection with his hands will catch Randy more often than the other way around. Should be a fun stand up fight, but if the fight goes to the ground I think Jack has the edge there too. If he can stay away from Randy's high kicks and knees, he should win this. I'm going to respect Randy here and say Jack wins by decision after inflicting serious damage over the course of the three rounds.

Tyson
A lot of people are sleeping on Tyson and I can't see why. The man's a wrecking ball and Bukauskas sucks - fights without confidence and just isn't that good. Tyson has questions about his cardio but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. His overall game has also never been terrible he just leaves his head a bit too open for my liking when closing the distance for his striking and his volume is a bit low. That said he seems to have regained his confidence, is better than Bukauskas at this point in their careers (who is taking this fight on short notice) and, again, hits hard af. It seems the UFC really want to build him to be another brand figure for their AUS/NZ region so they are giving him a fight that she SHOULD win. I think this actually a relatively safe bet.

Kleydson
Dude beat CJ Vergara in his last fight imo (won round 1 and just barely won round 3 too). He's actually a really good young fighter and the UFC had high hopes for him going into DWCS. I think he's better all around than his opponent here and should get it done thus time.

Jack Jenkins
I'll admit I'm jumping on the bandwagon on this one as I only saw a clip of one if his last fights and concluded that he's a decent fighter but not necessarily a future contender. Just simply, a good, all round fighter. That said, he's fighting an absolute can who has no business fighting in the UFC.

Zubaira
I don't like this guy at all. Terribly undisciplined with cutting weight to the point where you question if he comes in overweight to his fights on purpose. you also question what state his health was in coming into the weigh-ins. I doubt he's nursing an injury but you never know. That said who Zubaira should find this fight easy. He's miles ahead of Elves Brenner in level of competition.


Good luck guys.