UFC has a new lightweight champion after UFC 280. Challenger Islam Makhachev defeated Charles Oliveira via submission at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena on Saturday to take the lightweight belt and follow in the footsteps of his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The fight against Oliveira was the first shot at a UFC title for Makhachev, and he made sure he didn’t waste it. The 31-year-old absorbed the early pressure from the reigning champ and kept looking for ways to move the fight to the ground.
Oliveria looked like he wanted to get the job done early on, and his eagerness left windows of opportunity for Makhachev. The Dagestan fighter used one of them in the second round, dropping Oliveira to the canvas with a hard right punch.
Makhachev didn’t let Oliveira catch his breath, getting on top and managing to get a choke triangle on him. The Brazilian tried to fight it off for a few seconds before tapping out.
This was the 23rd win out of 24 fights for Makhachev in his MMA career. His only loss came against Adriano Martins at UFC 192 in 2015, and he has since 11-0, counting the win over Oliveira.
On the other hand, Oliveira dropped to 33-9 and saw his 11-win streak come to an end.
