New Zealander Dan Hooker, a member of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Federation (UFC), accused the Russian fighter Islam Makhachev of “cheating” before meeting with his Australian rival Alexander Volkanovskiy.
“He thinks he can fly to Australia, hire a nurse to put him on an IV, and no one will ever know. Prove it’s not. I bet you can’t,” Hooker wrote on social media.
In a later post, the New Zealand fighter added that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is doing nothing and that “if he doesn’t cheat, he won’t win.”
To a clarifying question about who he was talking about, Hooker replied that he was talking about Makhachev.
Dan Hooker did not specify where he got the information from or if he had proof.
According to the UFC, rehydration (intravenous dehydration therapy) before a fight has been banned since 2015, and because of this, a fighter can be disqualified for up to two years. To date, however, fighter Paulo Costa, who himself admitted to the offense twice in 2017, has only been suspended for six months retroactively.
According to TalkSport, the UFC and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have not commented on Hooker’s comments.
Islam Makhachev was able to narrowly beat Alex Volkanovski on points (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) in a match that brought them together yesterday, Sunday, in Australia, as part of the UFC 284 tournament.
We just witnessed ALL TIMER ???? #UFC284pic.twitter.com/Abd1D0T24S
— UFC (@ufc) February 12, 2023
Full #UFC284 protocols of major events ???? pic.twitter.com/zCx1YmqcFb
— UFC (@ufc) February 12, 2023
Islam Makhachev, 31, defended his UFC lightweight title for the first time, claiming his twenty-fourth win in his professional career in exchange for one loss.
Earlier it was reported that Makhachev and Volkanovski are not against a rematch.
On the other hand, Alex Volkanovski (34) suffered his second loss in his professional career compared to 25 wins so far.
Source: russian.rt.com