In partnership with the Western Australian Government, through Tourism Western Australia, this event marks UFC’s return to Perth with a Pay-Per-View event following the success of UFC 221: ROMERO vs. ROCKHOLD in February 2018 in front of a capacity crowd.
Tickets for UFC 284: MAKHACHEV vs. VOLKANOVSKI go on sale on Friday, November 18 at 10 a.m. AWST/ 1 p.m. AEDT and are available to purchase at ticketek.com.au . Tickets are limited to six (6) tickets per person. UFC Fight Club members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets Wednesday, November 16 at 10 a.m. AWST via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, November 17, starting at 10 a.m. AWST. Tickets limited to four (4) tickets per person. To access this presale, fans may register at UFC.com/Perth.
Aussie legend, Alex Volkanovski (25-1, fighting out of Windang, NSW) will attempt to make history yet again by becoming the first Australian to reach double champ status. Volk is set to take on UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev (23-1, fighting out of Makhachkala, Russia) who claimed an impressive submission win over Brazilian Charles Oliveira to gain the undisputed lightweight championship title only last month.
For the co-main event of the afternoon, top UFC featherweights Yair “El Pantera” Rodríguez and Josh Emmett will compete for the interim UFC featherweight title, with the winner taking on UFC featherweight champ, Volkanovski, at a later date. No.2 UFC featherweight, Rodriguez (14-3, 1 NC, fighting out of Chicago, IL) is coming off a victory over Brian Ortega at UFC Long Island this past July. The Mexican-born striker has just one loss in his past five fights. Californian native, Emmett (18-2, fighting out of Sacramento, CA), currently ranked No.5 UFC featherweight, has five straight wins and is coming off a split decision win over Calvin Kattar in June.
In another highlight for the Aussie fans, No.1 UFC middleweight and former champion, Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker (25-6-0, fighting out of Sydney Australia) will take on No.6 ranked middleweight, Paulo “The Eraser” Costa (14-2-0, fighting out of Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil) in the three round middleweight bout. The beloved Bobby Knuckles was originally due to face the Brazilian powerhouse in April 2021, however, Costa withdrew due to illness, leaving Whittaker to finally face Californian, Kelvin Gastelum. Whittaker has been on an absolute tear since his loss to Adesanya, keeping him at that No.1 spot and no doubt ready to put on another showstopper for the fans.
Also joining two of Australia’s best on the stacked summer card will be:
- Making his return to the Octagon, UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa (5-3, fighting out of Brisbane, Australia) will face American, Parker Porter (13-7, fighting out of Hartford, Connecticut)
- UFC light heavyweight and Western Sydney fan favourite, Tyson Pedro (9-3, fighting out of Sydney, Australia) will take on debutant Zhang Mingyang (16-6, fighting out of Qingdao, China) coming off UFC’s Road to UFC
- UFC light heavyweight, Jimmy Crute (12-3, fighting out of Melbourne, Australia) making his return to the Octagon post injury to go for the win against Alonzo Menifield (13-3, fighting out of Dallas, Texas)
- Sydney’s Josh Culibao (10-1-1, fighting out of Sydney, Australia) will take on Melsik Baghdasaryan (7-1, fighting out of Glendale, California) in a three round featherweight bout
- Also joining his fellow Aussies and making his UFC debut, Gold Coast’s Shannon Ross (13-6, fighting out of Gold Coast, Australia) will take on Kleydson Rodrigues. (7-2, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Ross fought through a ruptured appendix to win a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series earlier this year
- Melbourne boy Jack Jenkins (10-2, fighting out of Melbourne, Australia) will make his UFC debut after winning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series earlier this year. Jenkins will face Don Shainis (12-4, fighting out of Stoughton, Massachusetts) at featherweight
The current performance schedule for Sunday, February 12, has UFC 284 kicking off at 7:15 a.m. AWST with the UFC Fight Pass Prelims. The action will continue with the Prelims at 9:00 a.m. and the Main Card at 11:00 a.m. Please note, this is subject to change.
Fans tuning in at home will be able to keep up with all the action live from the Early Prelims on UFC Fight Pass to the Prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ESPN. From 11 a.m. AWST, UFC 284 will be available live on PPV via UFC Fight Pass, Main Event, Kayo and Fetch for Australian viewers and Sky Sport and Spark in New Zealand.
Additional bouts UFC 284: MAKHACHEV vs. VOLKANOVSKI will be announced in the coming weeks.
While in Perth, UFC featherweight champion, Alex Volkanovski and No.1 UFC middleweight Robert Whittaker will be at Yagan Square Amphitheatre from 5 p.m. tonight, Wednesday November 16, for a Fan Q&A Session. This event is free and open to the public.
UFC’s last show on Aussie shores, UFC 243: WHITTAKER vs. ADESANYA broke the world MMA attendance record with a packed stadium of 57,127 fans at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium in October 2019.
Since 2010, UFC has presented 15 live events in Australia, including sold-out shows at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena, Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, Perth Arena, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Entertainment Centre and Gold Coast Convention Centre. Collectively, these events have seen over 265,000 fans in attendance and millions worldwide watching on PPV and broadcast television. The six host cities to date – Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth – have produced a cumulative gross gate of more than $45 million and hundreds of millions more in economic impact.
All bouts are live and subject to change.
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