NEWARK, N.J. – Islam Makhachev continued to live up to his longtime promise Saturday with a UFC 302 main event win.
Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) was in a Fight of the Night thriller with Dustin Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC), but kept chasing a submission even into the final round and finally tapped the former interim champion with a D’Arce choke to defend the lightweight title at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Afterward, the talk from various broadcast booths, both during the live event and after the card was over, was that Makhachev had sealed the deal as MMA’s pound-for-pound current top fighter. But UFC CEO Dana White begged to differ.
