I know I've gone early here but I think there's a good reason considering this Perth card will be the first in Australia since before the pandemic. We'll start with the most obvious talking point - we're all expecting the main event to involve our man Alex Volkanovski moving up to the 155 pound limit to take on newly crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in a super fight for the 155 belt. This fight has already been set up and everyone expects it to be announced as the main event for UFC 284 in Perth:
The first fight that was announced for this card was actually Australia's Robert Whittaker taking on Paulo Costa and it should be an absolute cracker. Whittaker has been destroying virtually every middleweight on the planet that isn't named Israel Adesanya and seems to be playing the role of the gatekeeper as of late but one guy he hasn't fought at this stage is Paulo Costa. These guys have both been top 5 fighters in the middleweight division for years and it's entirely possible that this fight will act as a number one contender's match for an Adesanya rematch later on in 2023.
Another fight that was announced today involves the rejuvenated Aussie Tyson Pedro matching up against rising Chinese fighter Zhang Mingyang. Pedro pulled off one of the greatest comebacks of all time earlier this year when he returned to the octagon and has looked like a completely different fighter ever since joining the famed City Kickboxing gym in Auckland. Pedro might even find his way into the light heavyweight rankings should he beat Mingyang and that would be great to have another ranked Aussie in the UFC.
It has also been speculated that Tai Tuivasa will take part in this card. Bam Bam is a huge draw these days and it feels like a natural fit to put him on this card against another heavyweight like... Curtis Blaydes perhaps? That would be the 3rd ranked heavyweight vs the 4th ranked heavyweight and could lead to a title shot in the near future for the winner.
For the Perth locals, it seems like local fighter Jack Della Maddalena is guaranteed to participate in UFC 284. Not sure who he'll face but a ranked fighter would be nice to give Della Maddalena an opportunity to become a ranked welterweight himself. No doubt the crowd will be going absolutely nuts for the local lad when he makes the walk.
So what do we think? Is this going to be the best UFC card that we've ever hosted in Australia? There's certainly a lot of potential there...
The first fight that was announced for this card was actually Australia's Robert Whittaker taking on Paulo Costa and it should be an absolute cracker. Whittaker has been destroying virtually every middleweight on the planet that isn't named Israel Adesanya and seems to be playing the role of the gatekeeper as of late but one guy he hasn't fought at this stage is Paulo Costa. These guys have both been top 5 fighters in the middleweight division for years and it's entirely possible that this fight will act as a number one contender's match for an Adesanya rematch later on in 2023.
Another fight that was announced today involves the rejuvenated Aussie Tyson Pedro matching up against rising Chinese fighter Zhang Mingyang. Pedro pulled off one of the greatest comebacks of all time earlier this year when he returned to the octagon and has looked like a completely different fighter ever since joining the famed City Kickboxing gym in Auckland. Pedro might even find his way into the light heavyweight rankings should he beat Mingyang and that would be great to have another ranked Aussie in the UFC.
It has also been speculated that Tai Tuivasa will take part in this card. Bam Bam is a huge draw these days and it feels like a natural fit to put him on this card against another heavyweight like... Curtis Blaydes perhaps? That would be the 3rd ranked heavyweight vs the 4th ranked heavyweight and could lead to a title shot in the near future for the winner.
For the Perth locals, it seems like local fighter Jack Della Maddalena is guaranteed to participate in UFC 284. Not sure who he'll face but a ranked fighter would be nice to give Della Maddalena an opportunity to become a ranked welterweight himself. No doubt the crowd will be going absolutely nuts for the local lad when he makes the walk.
So what do we think? Is this going to be the best UFC card that we've ever hosted in Australia? There's certainly a lot of potential there...