p.m. ET on ESPN+
If a champion is defined by the quality of his rivalries, Islam
Makhachev is building one hell of a résumé.
Advertisement
In the main event of
UFC 302 on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, Makhachev (26-1)
encountered stern resistance from a valiant and dangerous Dustin
Poirier (30-9, 1 NC) before securing the dramatic finish.
The two lightweight greats began with some spirited exchanges on
the feet but the champ, as expected, employed his wrestling
quickly. Makhachev changed levels within the first minute of the
fight and deposited “The Diamond” on the canvas at the base of the
fence. From there, he went to work with his crushingly heavy top
game. Poirier was not quite done, taking advantage of a kimura
attempt by the champ to escape to his knees, but Makhachev spun
behind him, secured a body triangle and went to work for a choke.
Poirier survived to the end of the round, avoiding any submission
attempts or significant damage, but a pattern had been laid
down.
Poirier denied Makhachev’s first two takedown attempts of the
second round, squirming away and keeping his feet in both cases.
The awareness of Makhachev’s wrestling, however, hampered Poirier’s
work on the feet, and allowed the champ to get the better of the
exchanges on the feet. When Poirier fought off a third takedown
attempt, reversing the champ against the cage, the crowd came
alive, perhaps sensing a glimmer of hope for the underdog. Those
hopes were fanned when Poirier scored with a couple of solid
punching combinations, and while Makhachev finally secured his
first takedown of Round 2, only seconds remained on the clock.
Round 3 saw a quick return to form for Makhachev, who drove Poirier
to the fence, hauled him down in classic Dagestani style and took
back mount with nearly four minutes left in the period. Makhachev
moved to mount, whereupon the challenger slipped out the back door
and returned to his feet, to the Newark crowd’s raucous approval.
Makhachev more than held his own for the balance of the round,
outlanding Poirier, and damaging his left eye while avoiding the
Louisianan’s vaunted power. Poirier landed a couple of crisp, heavy
punches in the closing seconds, the two exchanged a respectful word
at the horn, and the fight still felt far from over.
Poirier opened up the championship rounds by snapping the champ’s
head back with a strong jab, and he snuffed out Makhachev’s first
takedown attempt of Round 4, eliciting a roar from this crowd,
followed by chants of the challenger’s name. Makhachev answered
with hard punch combinations of his own, then shoved him to the
fence, where he went for a methodical takedown attempt. He
succeeded on a second effort and went right back to sinking a hook,
draping all of his weight on Poirier. He looked close to securing
another back mount when Poirier exploded with an inside switch,
common in wrestling but rarely seen in MMA, and escaped to his
feet. Poirier scored with a punch flurry, spurring Makhachev into
attempting another clinch against the fence, and Poirier wrapped up
a front headlock to ride out the round—perhaps one of the few that
Makhachev had ever lost in the Octagon.
Going into the final round, Poirier, carrying some positive
momentum but almost certainly hopelessly behind on the scorecards,
turned up the jets. The challenger stuck out his heavy jab, tagged
Makhachev with his left cross, and shucked off the champ’s first
takedown attempt with what can only be described as contempt.
Makhachev returned fire on the feet, and when he launched his next
takedown attempt, he managed to haul Poirier down. After a brief
scramble, Makhachev locked up a brabo choke that forced the
challenger to tap at 2:42 of Round 5.
p.m. ET on ESPN+
The win, Makhachev’s third successful title defense, bolstered his
place on the list of the greatest lightweights of all time, and had
him openly discussing a shot at the welterweight belt. Poirier, a
former interim lightweight champion, is now 0-3 in undisputed title
fights, and threw out the idea of retirement. Whatever Poirier
decides, his position as one of the best lightweights of his
era—and most beloved fighters of any era—remains secure.
In the co-main event, Sean
Strickland (29-6) made his case for a shot at the middleweight
title he once owned, frustrating Paulo Costa
(14-4) across five rounds.
Former title challenger Costa made his presence felt immediately,
landing several brutal kicks to Strickland’s lead leg that induced
the former champ to begin switching stances within the first 30
seconds. Strickland, however, continued to march forward, throwing
his trademark one-two and a surprisingly heavy dose of front kicks
to the midsection. By the end of five minutes, the momentum
belonged to Strickland, who had spent the last four of them backing
Costa up, stinging him with single strikes and generally
frustrating him. Strickland kept up the pressure, forcing Costa
onto his back foot and limiting his offense to single strikes.
The leg kicks continued to score for “Borrachinha,” but not much
else worked for him in Round 2, and when Strickland knocked him
down in the closing seconds, even if he was more off-balance than
dazed, it only reinforced the optics. Strickland started to turn
things up in the middle rounds, opening up his punching
combinations and sitting down on his strikes, and was rewarded when
he corralled Costa against the fence and rocked him with a flurry
of punches. A moment later, Strickland checked a low kick and Costa
came away favoring his leg.
As Rounds 3 and 4 ground on, Strickland’s inexorable forward
progress and steady diet of jabs and crosses continued to take
their toll. Still, Costa did some of his best work in Round 4,
returning to his heavy leg kicks and beginning to work the body of
Strickland. Costa did his utmost to maintain that momentum in the
final round, continuing to assault Strickland’s legs and body,
while Strickland stuck to the same bread-and-butter approach that
had carried him to that point. It looked to be another numbingly
consistent Strickland round until the final moments, when
Strickland unleashed a torrent of head kicks and punches that
rocked Costa and nearly knocked him down against the fence. No
finish was coming, but Strickland left no question who had won the
round. No question, that is, except perhaps in the mind of judge
Dave
Tirelli, who turned in a baffling 49-46 card for Costa.
Fortunately for all involved, the other two judges saw it 49-46 and
50-45 in favor of Strickland, who prevailed by split decision.
Strickland’s win in his first appearance since surrendering his
belt to Dricus Du
Plessis left his record in the UFC at 16-6, while Costa fell to
6-4 in the Octagon.
Kevin
Holland (26-11, 1 NC) made quick work of Michal
Oleksiejczuk (19-8, 1 NC), but “quick” definitely did not
equate to “easy.” The middleweights got to work immediately,
trading punches as they bounced in and out of range. Oleksiejczuk
caught Holland with a huge left hand, dropping him to the canvas.
“Hussar” pounced for the finish, swinging away with hammerfists, as
Holland, having already regained his wits, calmly looked to isolate
an arm. Oleksiejczuk, either oblivious to what was going on or
underestimating his peril, did not reach to the armbar attempt
until Holland was already arching his hips for the finish. A tense
sequence ensued, as Holland adjusted his grip and the angle of
Oleksiejczuk’s right arm, as the Pole gamely tried to gut it out.
After a long moment, with Oleksiejczuk’s elbow having possibly come
out of its socket, referee HerbDean stepped in for the stoppage at
1:34 of Round 1. Oleksiejczuk protested, useless arm and all, but
it goes down as a technical submission win for Holland, who went to
13-7 with one no contest in the UFC, while Oleksiejczuk’s record
stands at 6-5 with one no contest.
Niko
Price (16-7, 2 NC) outlasted Alex Morono
(24-10, 1 NC) in their welterweight main card attraction,
underscoring the result of their first meeting in 2017, which Price
won, but had the result overturned due to a positive post-fight
drug screening. In a back-and-forth first round, both men scored
with powerful punches. The difference came on the ground, where
Morono took a variety of dominant positions, including an
exotic-looking omoplata-to-crucifix attempt. Price came out strong
in Round 2, however, backing up a suddenly tired-looking Morono and
rocking him with big punches on several different occasions. On the
second such occasion, Price took the opportunity to hustle Morono
to the ground, where he was briefly forced to fight off armbar
attempts and was kept on the defensive. Morono swept to top
position, returned to his feet, and took Price’s back, but Price
reversed him again and remained in control until the horn. Price
kept up the pressure in the final round, marching down the
exhausted Morono and backing him up with punches. By the second
half of the round, Price was visibly tired as well, but continued
marching forward and throwing punches until the horn. The judges
saw it, as most observers likely did, 29-28 for the Floridian, who
moved to 9-7 with two no contests in the UFC, while Morono fell to
13-7 with one no contest.
In the main card opener, Randy Brown
(19-5) turned aside Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos (24-8-1) after three intense rounds. “Rude
Boy” started strong, stinging dos Santos with long jabs and kicks
and proving elusive for his foe’s counters in the first round. The
momentum that already seemed to be going very much in Brown’s favor
became even more so when dos Santos suffered an inadvertent eye
poke for which referee Gaspar Oliver gave him no time to recover,
waving the fighters back into action immediately. Brown took
advantage, pouring it on and catching the oncoming dos Santos with
a crushing knee late in the round. Round 2 saw dos Santos come out
much stronger, catching Brown with a big right hand early, then
scoring a takedown and taking Brown’s back. Brown survived and
regained his feet, but dos Santos was persistent, getting back
mount again, securing a body triangle and applying a rear-naked
choke. The fight looked close to a finish as Brown’s eyes bulged,
but he remained calm, fought off the hands and his foe was forced
to abandon the choke. Dos Santos retained the dominant position,
however, and kept Brown completely on the defensive for most of the
rest of the round. With 40 seconds left to go, Brown exploded up
and out, took dos Santos’ back and tried for a choke of his own.
Time expired before he could finish things, but Brown possibly
saved himself from a 10-8 score, to say nothing of the shift in
momentum. In the final round, Brown began to take over. Whether
buoyed by his success late in Round 2 or because dos Santos was
growing fatigued, Brown landed with confidence, fighting off dos
Santos’ early takedown attempts and blasting him with another
intercepting knee, this time opening a severe cut on the
Brazilian’s head. Dos Santos had his moments in Round 3, including
a glancing spinning head kick early in the round and a takedown
late, but not enough to sway the judges, who saw the fight in
Brown’s favor by unanimous 29-28 scores. The win propelled the
lanky Jamaican to 13-5 in the UFC and had him creeping up on the
welterweight Top 10; dos Santos fell to 10-4-1.
Continue Reading »
UFC 302 Prelims: Almeida Throttles Romanov