UFC Fight Night 218 - Lewis vs. Spivac --- UFC Fight Night 219 - Andrade vs. Blanchfield
UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on February 12, 2023, at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
Fight card
Main card
Lightweight Islam Makhachev (c) vs. Alexander Volkanovski Lightweight Championship
Featherweight Yair Rodríguez vs. Josh Emmett Interim Featherweight Championship
Welterweight Jack Della Maddalena vs. Randy Brown
Heavyweight Justin Tafa vs. Parker Porter
Light Heavyweight Jimmy Crute vs. Alonzo Menifield
Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+)
Light Heavyweight Tyson Pedro vs. Modestas Bukauskas
Featherweight Joshua Culibao vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
Flyweight Shannon Ross vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
Lightweight Jamie Mullarkey vs. Francisco Prado
Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Featherweight Jack Jenkins vs. Don Shainis
Women's Strawweight Loma Lookboonmee vs. Elise Reed
Featherweight Shane Young vs. Blake Bilder
Lightweight Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Elves Brenner
Background
The event will mark the promotion's 16th overall trip to Australia, returning to the country for the first time since UFC 243 in Melbourne in October 2019.
A UFC Lightweight Championship bout between current champion Islam Makhachev and current UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski is expected to headline the event. This will be the eighth time in UFC history that champions in different divisions will fight for the same title, following UFC 94, UFC 205, UFC 226, UFC 232, UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw, UFC 259, and UFC 277. If successful, Volkanovski will become the fourth man to be champion in two divisions simultaneously and fifth fighter overall (after Conor McGregor at UFC 205, Daniel Cormier at UFC 226, Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 and UFC 277, and Henry Cejudo at UFC 238), as well as the eighth person overall to win a title in different divisions.
An interim UFC Featherweight Championship bout between The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America featherweight winner Yair Rodríguez and Josh Emmett is expected to take place at the event.
A middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) Robert Whittaker and former title challenger Paulo Costa was linked to this event. However, Costa disputed the official announcement by the promotion indicating he had never signed a contract and the fight would not take place. The pair was previously expected to headline UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum in April 2021, but Costa withdrew due to illness.
A flyweight bout between former UFC Flyweight Championship challengers Alex Perez and Kai Kara-France (the latter for the interim title) was scheduled for this event. They were once booked for an event at San Diego on May 16, 2020, but the card was moved to a different location due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the bout eventually never took place. In turn, the bout was canceled in late December as Kara-France suffered an undisclosed injury. Perez is now expected to face former Rizin Bantamweight Champion Manel Kape at UFC on ESPN 43 on March 25.
A women's strawweight bout between Loma Lookboonmee and Elise Reed was scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivak. However, the pair was moved to this event for undisclosed reasons.
A lightweight bout between Nasrat Haqparast and Jamie Mullarkey was expected to take place at the event. However, Haqparast withdrew due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by promotional newcomer Francisco Prado.
A lightweight bout between Joel Álvarez and Zubaira Tukhugov was scheduled for the event. However, Alvarez withrew from the event for undisclosed reasons and he was replace by promotional newcomer Elves Brenner.
A heavyweight bout between promotional newcomer Junior Tafa and Austen Lane was scheduled for this event. However, Lane withdrew due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Waldo Cortes-Acosta. In turn, Tafa suffered an injury and the bout was cancelled.
A light Heavyweight bout between Tyson Pedro and Zhang Mingyang was expected to take place at the event. However, Zhang withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by Modestas Bukauskas.
