Islam Makhachev bagged a thrilling submission victory over veteran Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 302. Khabib Nurmagomedov was in Makhachev’s corner at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. In a rare instance, ‘The Eagle’ cornered him yet again on a path toward victory. Now, he thinks Makhachev left UFC 302 as a much better fighter.
Makhachev went blow-to-blow and grappled at opportune moments. He submitted Dustin Poirier with a D’Arce choke at the 2:42 mark of Round 5 in what fans are calling a great and memorable bout. Consequently, ‘Diamond’ found limited success in pockets and even grazed him hard. Noticing how hard the fight went, Khabib was pleased.
To be honest, today Islam grew a lot, You don’t even understand…When you go deep like today, it shows people you understand body, and your things inside, and how deep you can go even more…All the time people underestimate themself – our body, our soul. We can go more deeper than five rounds, 10 rounds – it doesn’t matter. You just have to find this. You just have to be relaxed and find this way you have to go.
Khabib Nurmagomedov during UFC 302 post-fight backstage check-in interviews, via UFC’s social media (@ufc)
While not going the distance like Makhachev’s first defense against Alexander Volkanovski, Poirier pushed hard. He severely cut the Dagestani above his left eye. As the round ended, the two came face to face, leaving expletive spits and bloody boogers. Khabib Nurmagomedov advocated the essence of understanding and surpassing the limits of the body in the aftermath.
This isn’t unlike his quippy dousing that his protége would prep for King Kong if the beast could make the 155-pound mark. Nurmagomedov wasn’t just proud of Makhachev, though. Additionally, he caught up without Dustin Poirier as well. One thing’s for sure: Makhchev and his grueling war is going down in history as an all-time great.
How dominant was Islam Makhachev’s performance at UFC 302?
To put it simply, Makhachev was very dominant. He broke mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov’s record for the longest active win streak at the Lightweight division [14]. Subsequently, he beat top bills on the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings (Poirier, Alexander Volkanovski twice and Charles Oliveira). He also now boasts one of the highest finish rates and Highest significant strike accuracy in division history.
Islam Makhachev def. Dustin Poirier via submission (D’Arce choke) – wins “Fight of Night” (Source: X/Instagram)With a win over Dustin Poirier, Makhachev now ties with Nurmagomedov, B.J. Penn, Benson Henderson, and Frankie Edgar for triple-title defenses. It is the record for the most lightweight title defenses of all time. Currently at 26-1 MMA and 15-1 UFC, the southpaw from Team Eagles MMA and his 14-win streak is now only behind Kamaru Usman’s 15 and Anderson Silva’s 16 consecutive wins.
There was even the pitfall of multiple curses working against him. There’s the ‘Paulo Costa‘ curse of a titleholder losing undisputed gold with the Brazilian not headlining the card. There was also the Tri-State area curse where ‘Diamond’ has shone brightest with a 2-0 stint against Michael Chandler and Jim Miller.
Additionally, there was the Jan Blachowicz syndrome; Blachowicz’s title run at UFC 259 was the last time a champion defended against another champion holding a belt before Makhachev. He then soon lost his gold to Glover Teixeira. With his war with Volk and accusations of avoiding ranked lightweights, fans feared a similar fate. Unlike Blachowicz, Makhachev overcame the odds to defend his title.
