Tune in to the UFC 284: Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski | 30 Years Q&A with guest fighters Robert Whittaker, Tai …
foreign folks thank you all for sticking around and I just have to say as somebody who has emceed ceremonial weigh-ins for the last 12 years can’t thank you enough for bringing the energy that is as fired up as I have ever been on a way in stage so thank you all for that and thank you guys for sticking around we have some serious UFC Talent about to come out here first we are going to bring out a man who is an Australian MMA Pioneer I’m very excited to shake this man’s hand and candidly I’ll return to Australia would not be complete if this man was not in the building put your hands together how about a warm welcome for Kyle Noak [Applause] all right next athlete coming out this man recently challenged for a piece of the flyweight title one of the top contenders in the world and a damn fine human being as well how about a hand for Kai kind of France [Applause] all right next up we are going to bring out a heavyweight Contender who has just been running this entire town all week putting smoke in the air and everything else Ty Bam Bam tuivasa and now we say hello to mixed martial arts royalty the former UFC middleweight champion and in my mind future UFC Hall of Famer the reaper Robert Whittaker oh shy all right so as you guys know the UFC was launched in 1993 30th Anniversary so uh here we are what up what a festive atmosphere Robert here in Perth this week oh my God this is absolutely unbelievable you guys uh absolutely killing you with the energy the turnout that would have to be one of the loudest and biggest turnouts I’ve seen for a fight the support for the open workouts for the weigh-ins for the Q and A’s you guys are just about at every event I’ve seen one block here about seven times like you guys are killing a good job let’s get it hey Ty been an interesting week I know you’ve been all over the place doing backflips this is your nation and uh it’s been a press pretty festive week for you as well it’s party inside [Applause] Kai your thoughts on everything that this week has held here as the UFC gets back to Australia man I was gutted I couldn’t be a part of this card I actually had an injury so unfortunately but um happy to be here you know this is exciting just being a part of this you know and just privileged to represent you guys on the world stage you know these anzacs we’re taking over baby side and Kyle the veteran Statesman up here I know you’ve been there you’ve done that the sport has changed a lot but got to be pretty pretty cool for you to be back in this environment and feel this energy it’s been absolutely awesome you know um it’s great to be back here it makes me want to fight again another kind of too old now to bust it up but you know the crowd’s been phenomenal so it’s good really it’s amazing where the sport is I remember when Robert Whittaker go ahead Rob okay I just want to say one thing before six of you stand up and say hey Rob I came here because I bought tickets because you were fighting I’m sorry all right I’m sorry it wasn’t my fault this time like enjoy the show I’ll still be there I’m still here I’m in Perth but yeah apologies so just to save you that question for me I’m supposed to let you guys know that uh we can’t do autograph and photo requests as much as I know these guys would love to break down and do that um we’re gonna get some media questions here I was just going to say I remember when Robert Whittaker of course made his debut against Bradley Scott on the Gold Coast he still had 1990 in his social media handles and now look at him so uh very excited to hear uh do we have our first media question as I look out into the crowd anybody any brave souls all right we have microphones on either side fans and media a like feel free I guess to come down let’s go young man what do you got when are you coming in a perf to uh bring that title back to Australia baby and make it up to the per fans [Laughter] I I assume you were talking to me because you were eyeballing the hell out of me the whole time he’s one of the guys that bought a ticket but um yeah mate it would be a dream is it I still owe Perth a fight and I I stand by that it is something I I do think about I am here I’m doing as much as I can but as soon as possible that’s the answer as soon as possible my direction is always towards the gold so as soon as possible love it you’re the man well I find it hard to believe that we’re not going to have any other brave souls but I am going to ask these guys about the main event do we have somebody young man no how ‘d go with the questions guys have a go hey John John Council everyone everyone’s putting their hands up you’ve got to go and get on the mic come on school yeah brother we’ll get to you in one second okay first go ahead we question for you here um can you ask dinner when he’s going to bring the next event to Sydney [Music] as well worth it all I can tell you is I do believe the company hopes with every intention to come back to Australia in 2023 later Mr Sydney yeah no comment hey bom bom can I have your heart [Music] I wear that all day foreign I’ve got a question for Rob don’t don’t ask me for any machine I’m not I’m not as generous Rob how did you get to be quite so sexy Mike I’ll let you in on a secret mate got a got a little Lebanese barber in Camden threads the hell out of my eyebrows who’s that the stream guys boom look at it look at me Shawn mate [Applause] we’ll go back over here what do you have sir heaviest Kyle we’ll start with you down there can you recall the hardest puncher or striker you ever faced for me it had to be Hector Lombard I thought him was he’s a little nugget small massive hit like a train but I was either withstand it so probably Hector uh for me not fighting wise but just training in general volco the hardest hitter I’ve trained wolf so probably Mark hunt the lead horse that’s a safe one ah by the guys I got you know that finished me um probably gasoline he was he just had some heavy hands from like no range thank you back over here I just want to say thanks for coming out here too just uh stoked habies here even if he was aren’t fighting but uh type two of us I want to know where’s the after party on Sunday mate drink wet I gotta check the Instagram now look out that’s you let’s say I’ll be there from uh oh there’s no signal service whatever it is yeah the lookout that’s where I’ll be at no ours to the plug mate have a good one yeah sure question for Rob when are you going to get your hands on Costa and knock that out I I wanted to get my hands on him this weekend like that that was a plan I was so excited for that fight I I really yeah I had a lot of plans for it I thought it would have been a really killer Stella if I would have put on a killer show for you guys but it is what it is you know he’s a that oh [Applause] back over here go ahead yeah hi hi Robert I I have a question for you came over from Germany to here to ask you this question um are you going to fight Trump that I you know what like I only found out about his tweet two days ago so um I don’t know like I am down to fight anybody the only thing for me is that my objective has never changed the way but it’s the UFC gold so every step that I take forward has to be in that direction you know I’m hoping Izzy or or or Pierre Pereira falls down the steps you know and then I slide in it’s uh it’s one of those things it’s just a bit of a weird time at the moment okay thank you thank you my questions for Kyle uh not many people know be used to train uh with Steve Irwin I wonder if you’ve got any good sparring or uh training stories that you can about Steve uh yeah Steve love training um before we do an interview he get me to punch him in the guts a few times because he didn’t want to talk to anyone so they’d get him hyped up for it or he’d just come charging at me and you know asked me to knock him out a few times but the man was an animal he loved fighting I have a particular story can you tell the one where he um said what would happen if I just came at you like I was in a bar and just swing wild punches yeah when he first started to learn how to fight he didn’t quite understand he’s like what happens if I just come charging this now if I throw a Haymakers he’s still going to be able to get out of the way and do it and I was like well you come at me and I’ll see if I can outpoint you and strike her and then he’d just come charging with Haymakers and I was able to jab him and put it right on him and drop him to a knee and then he’d get up and charge at me again and after the second time I dropped him he’s like all right I see how it works now I’m gonna go back to technical stuff thanks y’all Rob we’ve come all the way from cronulla Sydney here we go represent here we go live Athletics there it is even though we didn’t we missed out on tickets but that’s right you know you might still have some smoke and uh my question is just all the boys why do you think uh MMA has just exploded in Australia recently and that we’re flying all over Australia just to show you guys mate it’s because we we’re producing this sort of stuff here as we smack 78 00:11:28,740 –> 00:11:32,940 we produce the best fighters in the world and that’s right that’s facts we produce the best fighters in the world yeah that’s it thank you thank you uh I’ve got a question for the three active Fighters so Rob Ty and Kai if you were the matchmakers if you could choose your next fight could we get a call out from all three of you start with Rob no I I want to fight either Israel or Pereira right they’re they’re the guys that’s the fight I want whoever’s holding that gold belt so it’s Pereira at the moment that’s who I want Tai Kai any names on the tip of your tongues question you know my last fight against Moreno it was close I’ll you know arguably I was probably winning but you know he he landed that shot but it just showed that I’m right there with the best guys in the world so Moreno third third time’s the charm let’s get it uh all the who have beat me already thank you thank you I just wanted to say thanks of guys for coming down really appreciate it um you’re missing one person on stage though you’ve got another living legend John Wayne Parr up the back here that should be on stage here yeah I’m down the front and sit with these Legends like you deserve thank you guys thanks Rob heartbroken you couldn’t fight appreciate you guys so much I was at the post fights conference where there was a fella that had traveled four different locations to see you and I want to shout him out as well that poor Fella’s heartbroken we’re all heartbroken you’re not here fighting appreciate it Rob thank you very much brother I’m sorry I’m sorry the voice of the people that the question for bam bam what is your thoughts on the fight with John Jones and surreal gun it’s gonna be a good fight uh I wanna have a crack at both of them again so yeah I don’t know it’s going to be hard for sure but Jon Jones been out of the game for a little bit so we’ll see thank you yeah so Rob when you retain will regain the title 185 how many defenses are you planning until you move permanently up to 205. ah the the move to 205 is something that’s like in the works for later down um hard to say I make I’m so good at 185 though you know I’ve I’ve I’ve thought this I’ve thought about going up before but I’m just doing so well you know question for Bam Bam which one of these concerts again knocked the out next and Johnny attic we love y’all [Applause] I don’t know hopefully not me back over here go ahead man rob during the week uh Islam was pissed off that got his name how would you think he’s going to react when he forgets his own name after Vox smashes his face in all right I I assume not very well [Laughter] why didn’t the UFC offer you a replacement yeah I guess that’s the million dollar question uh because obviously you saw the likes of Sean Strickland just jumping straight in after a week’s notice it’s uh obviously they had other designs for for where they want me to fight and when they want me to fight uh again I guess it kind of aligns with with my whole goal setting is that I’m I’m heading towards UFC gold that is what I’m hunting and what I’m what I’m looking for so any anyone that’s not in the way of that isn’t really on the radar cheers bro thanks thank you go ahead young man uh Christian for Thai um out of all the people you fought is there anyone that you’d like to have another crack with like everyone who’s beat me no I would I would like to verse the the Russian who beat me last I think uh if I took that on uh better frame of mind or whatever I reckon but I’d love to run that one back yeah Earth Sergey pavlovich I believe you yeah him my question is for Rob obviously we’ve got Izzy vs Pereira 2 coming up in the coming months a lot of people think you’re going to be the man to take the belt of Pereira do you think you’re a better matchup against Pereira compared to othersanya against him uh I do believe that I have like a larger skill set to to fight Pereira with I I am not underestimating prayers stand up ability at or he is a phenomenal fight there are I think there are a lot of little things that he does stand-up wise that a lot of the fans can’t appreciate that that fight between adesanya and Pereira is one of the highest level fights I’ve ever seen in terms of the stand-up caliber but I I do have a lot of faith especially after coming off that second out of senior fight what I gained back from that fight in my own skill set and how complete it is and how well I can utilize it against someone like Pereira thank you back over here yes okay guys welcome board hey um a couple of questions if you don’t mind I’ll take two uh can I get a prediction from all of you around the um main event and what round Volks gonna finish um Islam Kyle let’s start with you Alexander volkanovski islamicashov which way you’re going and how does it end uh I got vulcanovski winning in the third yeah hopefully my submission okay what do you think um you know trained with vulcanovsky um pound for pound one of the uh strongest top games ever um so I I feel like he’s going to get a finish probably the third yeah evoke I don’t know I just hopefully I can see straight by the time the fight comes around uh you’re gonna miss it for sure we start an early Sunday baby you know what time we have um oh mate it’s um it’s it’s a hard test it’s a hard test you could see the size difference when they they paired up here after they were hydrated a little bit that there is a there’s a quite significant muscle density advantage and and height difference it’s going to be a hard fight for both guys um yeah it’s I guess the biggest thing and this is something I’ve spoken before is just like you don’t know how good Islam is because it’s it’s he’s running that that same thing khabib had is it’s like oh well so and so will be the test for him but then he goes out and smashes him and then you’re like well he hasn’t gone up against the defense of so-and-so and then he smashes him then he retires undefeated like you you know what I mean you’re kind of always chasing how good he is and I don’t know why that is so I guess that’s the biggest mystery marker why I it’s hard to really give a clear defining answer because you don’t know how good he is so Vulcan round one so Vulcan round one yeah what the was there going on about that old time just all right we’re gonna go back over here and just so you know we got about five minutes more with these athletes so we’ll try to clear out as many of these questions as humanly possible go ahead uh my questions for all members of the panel um do you guys all think that all we’ve seen the turnout here is amazing or we can do you guys think Australia deserves at least maybe one show per year and maybe even get a New Zealand show somewhere down the line we’re going to Sydney this year I’ll tell you right now we’re going to Sydney did you say like a Perth card once a year on Australian card once a year come on mates maybe somebody a little closer I I think City Melbourne be all right as well [Laughter] yeah I think we deserve four or five shows a year here in Australia you know like look at the crowd look at the audience we bring in yeah one in each state it is about time that UFC come back to New Zealand though isn’t it yeah well don’t remember we’ve been locked down for two years too yeah yeah no I mean the Anzac takeover is in full effect and for me I mean you can be sure you all will be a performance enhancer for us on the sticks tomorrow night there’s nothing like calling fights here so hopefully we’ll be back later this year and two times next year as well thank you brother I’ve got a question for Ty if the opportunity was thrown at you would you fight Jon Jones tomorrow and probably blind too thank you hey guys first thanks for coming back to Australia but just not back to Australia to perk perkiate it here it’s awesome um it’s been five years since you were here joking aside when do you think we can expect you back because we love it I don’t have any inside information despite what some of you may think but I gotta think given this turnout given this response this was one of the single hottest tickets in UFC history I feel pretty convicted in saying we’ll be back here next year so all right all right in two months all right leave it with me two months tomorrow all right so uh Robert first question is for you so McGregor is coming back to 170 and he looks looks absolutely monster since you were 170 like a while ago are you willing to come down and make the weight cut and face McGregor image no no I am not because have you seen the size of me brother look at these arms mate I mean it’s a rare panty and I might as well take a chicken right I would have to I would have to stop eating from now to make that white division like there’s just no way there’s no way okay lovely also I want to thank you because you have been a true inspiration to me so thank you very much I appreciate that thank you man and one more question Bam Bam are we gonna see uh shui on the stage thank you whoever that kid over there gave me his shoes as stinking it was thinking no it wasn’t a B I don’t have shoes [Music] yeah how can I get this bee and a drink come on all right well as we await the beer if we can get that coordinated I’m sure Ty would participate but I do want to try to clear out as much of the queue as like all right thank you so much guys thank you go ahead young man my dad my dad’s a home watching Stephen Robertson couldn’t come [Applause] the shoes are off let me hear you look at those shoes they’ve seen some miles [Laughter] okay [Applause] Ty is very good at that all right go ahead oh I’m sorry um I was just wondering next time you see Dana White would you ask him if he could have an arm wrestle with my dad because when my dad is a bit to drink that’s all he talks about yeah you talking to me what uh next person to see Dana White tell him to arm wrestle my dad all right that will be the first thing I tell Dana the next time I see him okay [Applause] I’ve got a couple of questions as well I’m a greedy first one’s for Kai Kai what was your thoughts on the uh Moreno figgy fight in Brazil yeah it was a good fight um you know Moreno showed us dominance and um made figgy look pretty easy so it makes our fight look a lot better you know because it was a lot closer but um it’s it’s a it’s a good thing you know figgy’s going up to Bantam um you know kind of clears the division lets new life I think pantosia might have the next shot then I got Nick so let’s get it and last one for Rob Rob what is it with vittori with the fight in Paris he seems to just get in front of people but he don’t do a lot I don’t know what it is to fight with busy fight with you I don’t know whether it’s your Styles but he doesn’t doesn’t seem to do a lot I mean the Tory I’m I’m sure he would have if I’ve given him a chance I was I was punching him a lot it was kind of putting a spanner in the works yeah that’s it all good bad bam as well I thought I saw you yesterday work going in to David Jones I was like what the hell are you doing down there at 11AM I don’t know either thank you brother all right don’t shoot the messenger but we have time for one more question on each side I’m being told so uh young man go ahead um uh Israel out for me please I’ll do it for you that guy I’ll do it for you thank you I’ll try anyway um you know I did try the last time too just just in case you weren’t aware [Applause] so also um I want to become a UFC fighter one day what would what would you tell them if I wanted on one become a UFC fighter I want to become one one day train hard train hard mate simple well that’s what he said you just gotta work before you work hard me look at the size of your mate what are you talking about love you Rob I love you too bro have a good one what would you tell my dad all right final question go ahead g’day guys welcome to Perth um love to have you here it’s a shame that you won’t find this uh this card Rob but um how do you reckon the car we’ll go for the pahara versus um Anna Sonia how do you reckon the five will go um I’ve spoken to a couple guys and there’s like obviously everyone’s curious so for my take on it it all depends on like how he adesan is taken the the last loss really because like losing again you know in the MMA after prayer has come in and he’s done this whole thing and and then losing in that fashion might play on his mind or it could swing the entire other way and free him up completely like the worst has already happened already already talked a lot took a loss so now he’s going in as as the Challenger hungry free of all that weight and pressures you know we might see a like a much more free and relaxed addisonia who knows thanks guys for the best can’t wait for tomorrow we can’t wait for tomorrow thank you guys all for coming out can we hear it once more for the athletes Robert Whittaker thank you so much Hunter France and Kyle Noak thank you Perth we’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning [Applause] [Music] [Music]