The leadup to the Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski fight was really intense as many fighters made many bold claims and issued stern warnings to their opponents. Such intensity, of course, affected fans and one of them reportedly threatened to blind Islam Makhachev and Randy Brown during their fights.
“THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING! THE BLINDING O FTHE BRAZZA IS UPON US. /heem/cel from Perth is Trojan horsing a laser pointer in through a diabetes needle. He will be BLINDING Makhachev resulting in a finish or a NO CONTEST. Pay attention for the GREEN DOT tomorrow. You will see it tested ONCE during the Randy Brown fight, then during the main event.”
This was the warning issued by an anonymous 4-chan user. While the message has a bizarre style and wording, the main message intended seems rather clear. Someone is planning to momentarily blind both Islam Makhachev and Randy Brown with laser during their high-stake match.
Was any laser used during the Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski match?
A disturbing pattern we see in the warning message is that both fighters who got threats issued against them were supposed to fight against local fighters. And while the fight card featured mostly Aussies, the opponents that Makhachev and Brown were going to face had a lot in the line.
Volkanovski was looking to continue his reign as the pound-for-pound number 1 fighter in the world while also becoming a two-division champ. Jack Della Maddalena is also on a very impressive win streak where he has become famous for knocking his opponents out during the first rounds.
Islam was blinded by the green laser but still won 😂😂😂 #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/TWnN2lZEDG
— King Bobby 👑🇿🇦 (@JustinHerronUFC) February 12, 2023
Now that the dust is settled, the predictions didn’t come correct in Makhachev’s case as the Dagestani picked up a decision win. On the other hand, Randy Brown lost in the very first round but via submission and it’s unclear if anyone got the opportunity to abuse the laser on him.
We hope UFC takes appropriate steps to prevent such events from occurring.
