Islam Makhachev defeated Alexander Volkanovski in the first round

The stunning tournament in Abu Dhabi cemented Islam Makhachev, the only domestic champion of the UFC, the main promotion in mixed martial arts (MMA), as a superstar of exceptional proportions. Defending his lightweight title (70 kg) in Abu Dhabi, Makhachev surprisingly easily and quickly – by knockout after an unexpected kick in the first round – defeated an opponent who seemed insanely dangerous for him – Australian Alexander Volkanovski, with whom he had an almost equal match in February the battle.

Describing the main outcome of the central fight in the UFC 294 tournament program, ESPN summed up without hesitation that it “ended the debate.” What kind of debates were meant is clear. Of course, regarding the place of Islam Makhachev in the UFC hierarchy, which lasted several months, since February last year.

Then Makhachev, who had already won the champion title in a special category for Russia, in a category in which his friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov once reigned, met in Perth with the Australian Alexander Volkanovski, the featherweight champion (up to 66 kg), who jumped for the sake of , to teach Nurmagomedov’s successor a lesson, into the next category. The fight left behind a trail of questions. For most of it, Makhachev was superior to his famous opponent, but still not so much as to seem like a master of a completely different level against his background. And in the final, fifth round, the Russian found himself on the floor in a position that looked like a critical one. Not all experts agreed with the verdict of the judges who gave him the win. But many of them agreed with the UFC’s decision to keep Alexander Volkanovski’s position in its ranking of the best fighters, regardless of weight category, higher than that of Islam Makhachev, albeit giving the top one to American heavyweight Jon Jones. It looked like a kind of compensation for the loss in an equal match.

But now, apparently, the UFC will have no choice but to finally swap Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. Even taking into account that the Australian found out whether he would be a participant in the show in Abu Dhabi just a week and a half before it, after the Brazilian Charles Oliveira, with whom the Russian fighter was supposed to fight, withdrew due to injury, and had minimal time to prepare— Makhachev’s success turned out to be too spectacular and convincing.

To evaluate him properly, you need to know that Volkanovski did not lose to anyone ahead of schedule for ten years, although he crossed paths with great opponents. He learned to endure – in the stand, on the ground. He learned to defend himself in such a way that it seemed that nothing could surprise him. It took Makhachev three minutes to deal with Volkanovski and a trick that added another layer to his appearance as a stunning all-rounder.

The standard forecast before the fight came down to the fact that Islam Makhachev needs to seek happiness in wrestling: Alexander Volkanovski, as confirmed by the February fight, is too dangerous in a standing position. But Makhachev decided everything in the standing position.

He opened the rematch with a high kick – a kick to the head that didn’t work out very well. From the outside, it seemed like something absolutely unnecessary, a strike for show, just to make the opponent tense up a little, analyzing whether he should be afraid of moves that, in theory, were not typical for the opponent. But in the middle of this tense round, which set up a long confrontation, the Russian suddenly fired a high kick again. And this time not for show. Makhachev’s left shin slammed into Volkanovski’s face. And a moment later, the Australian, who had collapsed on the floor, was already trying to survive under the cannonade of strong blows that fell on him from above and, naturally, did not survive. And Makhachev soon explained that in fact there was nothing crazy in his high kick – he also had a surprise combination in store for Oliveira, which would also work for the all-knowing and all-seeing Volkanovski.

In the most delicious part of the tournament in Abu Dhabi, two more extremely important fights for all Russian UFC fans took place. One resulted in an emergency. Russian Magomed Ankalaev has been close to the champion title in the light heavyweight (up to 93 kg) for quite some time, but in December he could not take it, finishing a draw with Jan Blachowicz, and now he has not received contender status due to a stupid mistake.

Ankalaev’s fight with American Johnny Walker lasted less than four minutes. After a cunning move by Walker, which showed that he was in terribly pain due to Ankalaev’s hit that did not actually happen, and an attempt to catch his distracted opponent, the Russian, who did not fall for the trick, scored a takedown. And there, at the net, he was not patient enough to wait for Johnny Walker to rise to both feet so he could deliver his intended knee to the head. Ankalaev carried it out while Walker was leaning on the floor with his own knee. And this is already a prohibited blow.

Johnny Walker, having already talked with the doctor, made it clear with his entire appearance that he did not care about the shock he had experienced, that he was ready to continue. But the referee, having learned the doctors’ recommendations, stopped the fight. Both opponents protested against this decision. And so furiously that a whole squad of security officers, as well as UFC head Dana White, came into the octagon to calm them down. In general, the fight was declared invalid amid dissatisfied buzz from the public.

In the next fight, the enormously popular native of Chechnya, Khamzat Chimaev, who until recently represented Sweden and now competes for the UAE, maintaining an impeccable track record, won his 13th consecutive victory in MMA. And she was, of course, more valuable than everyone else.

Chimaev was opposed by the Nigerian Kamaru Usman, practically a living legend, an outstanding fighter, albeit already at veteran age, even though he had lost his last two fights, but this one, despite the fact that two weeks ago, like Volkanovski, was not on the list of participants in the tournament, but still terribly dangerous, insanely cool. And Usman struck. For the first of three rounds, he endured Chimaev hanging on his back and punching, unimaginably enduring the torture. In the second, he already switched the fight to the mode he needed – more like kickboxing than wrestling. And in the third, he actually dragged Chimaev into his favorite territory – into a desperate chopping block.

It was a top spectacle. Chimaev had a hard time, but he found the strength to take his opponent to the ground literally at a critical moment for himself. Maybe it brought him success (two judges gave Khamzat Chimaev the win, and the third gave him a draw) along with the status of a contender for the world middleweight title (up to 84 kg), which is still held by American Sean Strickland.

Alexey Dospehov