UFC 284 fight card and start times: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski

Perth, Australia – The UFC makes its historic return to Australia on Sunday, February 12, booked for Perth’s RAC Arena. FightBook MMA broke the news on Nov. 12 that Australia’s UFC featherweight champion and #1 Men’s Pound-for Pound, Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski will take on newly crowned UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in a five-round championship bout.

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. UFC featherweight and #2 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 #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, #1 UFC middleweight and former champion, Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker (25-6-0) fighting out of Sydney Australia will take on #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.

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 favorite, 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.

Stay tuned to FightBook MMA as we will be announcing more bouts in the coming weeks.

Roberto Villa

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.