UFC 284: Perth influencer fakes credentials to sneak into exclusive $6,500 cageside seats for free
UFC 284's main event featured the world's two best pound-for-pound fighters in lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. In a bid not to miss out on history, Australian YouTuber MikeyT pulled out all the stops and snuck into the venue.
The pay-per-view was held at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. MikeyT claimed that he missed out on tickets due to them selling out "within 10 seconds." With that, the YouTuber researched lanyards of authorized personnel and got one replicated. As well as his lanyard labeling him a videographer, he also heat-pressed the UFC logo onto a black polo to resemble event staff.
MikeyT had no trouble getting past security by flashing his authorized lanyard. Once inside, the influencer found access to the media room, where he spotted lightweight Jamie Mullarkey. He then ventured cageside with no hindrance, where he witnessed Tai Tuivasa completing a shoey and also caught Charles Oliveira and Israel Adesanya seated.
Upon following Alonzo Menifield backstage, MikeyT spotted Jack Della Maddalena. He then followed Justin Tafa out on his walkout for his main card fight against Parker Porter.
The highlight of the night was when MikeyT managed to walk out alongside Alexander Volkanovski ahead of the historic main event. With that, he experienced the thrilling atmosphere created by Australian MMA fans.
The influencer was then cageside as Islam Makhachev and his Aussie opponent entered the octagon and dueled it out.
Check out the video below:
Islam Makhachev reacts to UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings update
Islam Makhachev successfully defended his lightweight title for the first time against Alexander Volkanovski. Despite that, the Dagestani failed to dethrone the featherweight champion from the top spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.
That's despite the matchup being largely billed as a fight for the lightweight championship and P4P bragging rights.
Upon his return to Russia, Makhachev spoke in an interview and addressed the lack of movement in the latest rankings update, citing bias against Russian fighters:
"Thank you for congratulations. The road home is always good, no matter how long you fly. About the rankings, I never expected justice and still don't. Because we saw on the example of our other fighters, [Magomed] Ankalaev, Petr Yan, saw the attitude towards us always. The main thing [is] I flew 13,000 kilometers. There, defeated their champion, they raised my hand. And with a raised head, confidently with a belt, flew home."
Check out UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev's full comments below: