Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski is branded a “f***ing animal” – and hailed one of only three UFC superstars who would genuinely fight every month – in an incredible documentary series centred around the world’s premier MMA promotion.
Fight Inc: Inside The UFC, an absorbing series that airs on Foxtel and Kayo this Monday night, takes fans through an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into the UFC and its biggest superstars.
Included in the unique footage is UFC boss Dana White and his team making, or rallying after the collapse, of some of the biggest fights in recent years – including Volkanovski’s bid to take down UFC lightweight king Islam Makhachev on 11 days notice at UFC 294.
Fans also get to see how heavyweight champ Jon Jones makes his own world title bout against Stipe Miocic in a car park, and how it is then sensationally delayed after ‘Bones’ learns he will be out of the sport for up to a year with injury.
Watch new documentary Fight Inc: Inside the UFC on Fox Sports 505 (available via Foxtel & Kayo) on Monday 5 August. All three episodes to air back-to-back from 7.30pm AEST.
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“You’re lying,” Jones says initially during an emotional reveal with White and UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell.
Told he has completely separated the muscle where his pec and bicep align, and now requires surgery, the champ adds: “I don’t want to cry in front of you two …”
Footage also shows the dealings occurring after Brazilian Charles Oliveira withdrew from the UFC 294 headliner in Abu Dhabi last October – opening the door for Volkanovski’s hyped rematch with Makhachev.
While the Australian superstar would eventually lose the headliner by brutal headkick, the documentary sees White, Campbell and matchmaker Sean Shelby heap praise on ‘The Great’ during negotiations.
When discussing who replaces Oliveira, Campbell says: “We need a person f***ing Abu Dhabi and the fan base is going to say ‘holy s***’.”
Shelby adds of the Wollongong native: “There’s maybe three guys in the company that will fight every f***ing month, and he’s one”.
White and Campbell then brand Volk a “f***ing animal”.
Elsewhere, the series looks into the rise of UFC bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley, who is told by White “do you know how much f***ing money you’re going to make”.
Time is also spent on the last UFC blockbuster on Australian soil — UFC 293 in Sydney, which saw Israel Adesanya dethroned in a shock upset by controversial American star Sean Strickland.
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The documentary also takes in the intense rivalry between Adesanya and South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis, who himself now doubles as the new UFC middleweight champion.
That story also continues later this month when DDP now defends his crown against Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth on Sunday, August 18.
Jones is also set to finally face Miocic later this year, with plans underway to have them square off at Madison Square Garden, New York in November.
That headliner will end over a year of build up, which is showcased in Fight Inc.
At one point, footage shows Campbell and the champ discussing the potential bout at a busy function, with Jones then asking if the pair can go talk outside instead of having a ‘formal meeting’.
The two then get into Campbell’s car which, sat in a small parking lot outside, is where the Miocic fight is discussed and, incredibly, finalised.
Eventually, Campbell emerges and reveals: “The biggest fight in heavyweight history just got made in a car on a parking lot, so go figure that one.”