MMA journalist contradicts Dana White and claims Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski "isn't" promotion's first ever P4P #1 vs. #2 matchup

UFC 277 Weigh-in
Dana White at the UFC 277 Weigh-in

A renowned MMA journalist is calling out the UFC for false advertisements pertaining to this Saturday's (February 11) UFC 284 event in Perth, Australia.

Ariel Helwani took to Twitter to contradict Dana White's promotion of the upcoming super fight between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. He mentioned that the promotion billing the fight as the first ever matchup between the No. 1 and No. 2 pound-for-pound fighters in the world is inaccurate.

Helwani tweeted:

"Makhachev x Volkanovski is an INCREDIBLE fight. I can’t wait for it. It’s the best of MMA right now. But it bothers me that the UFC keeps saying it’s the first time 1 v 2 p4p have fought. That is not true. Jones x DC was legit 1 v 2 p4p. That was back in 2015. C’mon now."

Helwani also brought up that the UFC shouldn't be making those statements when promoting fights as a way to heighten the moment if it has already been done before. He tweeted that the fighters that competed before earned that distinction and respect, writing:

"I know 99.9999% of you don’t care and you’ll say I’m whining but this stuff matters to me. History matters, and respecting history matters even more. No need to make things up for the moment. Jones and DC have earned that respect."

The MMA Hour host made a valid point as Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier were two of the best fighters in the world when they competed and have had Hall of Fame quality careers.


MMA fans troll Dana White for forgetting Islam Makhachev's name during a press conference

Dana White received some backlash from MMA fans, who trolled him on Twitter for forgetting Islam Makhachev's name when discussing the lightweight champion's upcoming fight with Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284.

Fans took to Twitter and wrote that the UFC President has been so preoccupied with Power Slap that he's forgotten one of his champions' name, writing:

"Dana have you been trying slap boxing out yourself?" [@timbopop - Twitter]
"Dana really thinks the company would not survive without him btw" [@KI_Garrick - Twitter]
"He did it intentionally to keep Islam in his place after the comments he made about UFC not promoting this fight enough, my best guess." [@jeff_gatsby - Twitter]

It obviously didn't help that the UFC President was responding to a question regarding this Saturday's event.

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