Daniel Cormier believes there should be no controversy regarding Islam Makhachev’s win at UFC 284.
On February 11, Makhachev denied Alexander Volkanovski of double champ status by defending the UFC lightweight champion with a unanimous decision. In the aftermath, there were fans and analysts that believe Volkanovski did enough to deserve the win. Cormier was not one of those people. ‘DC’ had this to say on his YouTube channel:
“He [Makhachev] was landing a lot of the real damaging shots and he won the fight. The famed outrage that was online was unfair because it’s not real. It’s not real. There was no reason for people to seem upset at the result of that fight because Makhachev won. He won the fight three rounds to two, in my opinion. The judge that scored it 49-46, it’s just a bad scorecard.”
It should be noted that Cormier is a close friend and training partner of Makhachev. With that said, 23 of 29 media members agreed that the Russian deserved to win. Although the UFC 284 main event was a close fight, labeling it a robbery is an exaggeration.
Watch Daniel Cormier discuss the UFC 284 main event below:
Daniel Cormier breaks down his scorecard for the UFC 284 main event
One improvement that could be made in MMA is having the judges required to appear at post-fight press conferences. Therefore, they could explain their scorecards to create clarity for fighters, coaches, and fans. Daniel Cormier validated his claims of Islam Makhachev winning at UFC 284 by offering this point of view:
“First round, very competitive round. Makhachev gets knocked down, gets back up, and knocks Volkanovski down. Gets a takedown, has some ground control. Round one goes to Makhachev. Round two, Makhachev drops Volkanovski again. If not drops him, he hurts him. Volkanovski in round 3 comes back like a bat out of hell, wins that round. Round four, Makhachev gets another takedown on a beautifully timed shot, controls him the vast majority of the round. Round ends with Makhachev on top. At that point, I think 3-1 going into round five. Round five, Alexander Volkanovski goes to his corner, tells them, acknowledges, hey, I’m behind, I gotta go for it. That’s exactly what he does…”
Regardless of what people think, Makhachev emerged victorious against Alexander Volkanovski while showing improvements in his striking. Although the Russian still has room to evolve, it’s going to be difficult for any fighter to dethrone the pound-for-pound king.
