Sean O’Malley is taking a look at the accusations that Islam Makhachev cheated at UFC 284.
Islam Makhachev pulled out the victory at UFC 284 when he defeated the pound-for-pound king Alexander Volkanovski. It was a hard-fought five-round title fight that saw Makhachev taken to places he has never been before in a UFC fight. Following the event, however, Makhachev was the target of some defamation after Dan Hooker, a teammate of Volkanovski accused him of cheating.
Hooker took to Twitter following the bout to accuse Makhachev of using an illegal IV to rehydrate and therefore allowing himself to be in better shape on fight night. This means of rehydration is not allowed in the UFC and Hooker claimed that Makhachev, although knowing this, took it upon himself to hire a nurse to administer an IV and therefore cheated.
Sean O’Malley takes a look at the accusations from Dan Hooker about Islam Makhachev
This claim has been the talk of the MMA world over the past few days, even more so than the fight itself. Many fighters past and present have been discussing whether or not this action would even be possible for Makhachev. One man who would like to see actual proof before jumping to conclusions is UFC bantamweight title contender Sean O’Malley. He spoke about this on his YouTube channel.
“I mean in a fight went five, fives hard, he was breaking him, that IV could have very well helped him not get finished. And that very well could have gave him an extra boost for sure” he said. “I feel like nothing’s gonna happen unless they have some evidence that he did it. They can’t have proof, unless there’s a picture or video or he admits to it. I don’t know how that would work, but you’d have to have physical evidence for that. I would assume.”
The problem with Hooker’s claim is that he cannot prove it or at least it seems like that now. If a nurse was paid to give Makhachev an IV, she would be prohibited from discussing that publically due to patient confidentiality. Certainly, no person from Makhachev’s camp would be willing to spill the beans if it did happen, so unless something solid comes out, much like O’Malley suggested, it seems that Makhachev will not be punished.
