Islam Makhachev finally addresses his weight cut struggles for UFC 284 clash against Alex Volkanovski
UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev recently opened up about the difficulties he faced during his weight cut leading up to his fight against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284.
In a candid interview with 'Big' John McCarthy and UFC veteran Josh Thomson on WEIGHING IN, Makhachev stated that he had to endure a grueling process to make weight, which took a significant toll on his body and performance.
Islam Makhachev stated that he started his training camp for the fight four months in advance:
"Honestly, I'm training this game you know. I trained for the fight for four months. I start my camp from September... long time I did like, a big training camp and right after the fight I just keep training."
Despite having a proper fight camp in place, Islam Makhachev admitted that it was a demanding process that required him to track his training and food intake meticulously. He noted that the intense training schedule made his weight-cutting process for the Volkanovski fight particularly challenging:
“I'm not pressed maybe like three four days but I still training every day. Because of that, I think cutting weight was so hard for Volkanovksi fight. I did I just all my weight cut I have my same program but for [Charles] Oliveira fight, I did same thing but for this [Volkanovski] fight it was very difficult.”
Check out the entire conversation here (quote is from 4:28 to 9:52):
Chael Sonnen speaks on Islam Makhachev's suspected IV usage
Chael Sonnen has commented on the controversy surrounding Islam Makhachev's weight cut and recovery before his UFC 284 title fight against Alexander Volkanovski.
Following the fight, Volkanovski and his team, including Dan Hooker, raised concerns about Makhachev's alleged use of an IV during his recovery after the weight cut. This has sparked a debate about the rules set by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and whether Makhachev violated any regulations.
Sonnen expressed his displeasure with the nurse who allegedly snitched on Makhachev to Alexander Volkanovski's team during an interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani:
“I will just share with you, whoever the big mouth nurse is that thinks this is gonna be her 15 minutes of fame, she’s a scumbag, she should’ve never opened her mouth. If she comes into somebody’s room, and she takes a fee, and she’s doing something that’s a medical procedure that she deems is appropriate and necessary and then later finds out it’s [cheating] and then speaks up to Dan Hooker and the gang, she’s no good.”
Check out the entire interview here (quote at 5:25):