Islam Makhachev strengthened his claim as the UFC’s best pound-for-pound fighter after defeating Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision at UFC 330 in Philadelphia and setting a new record for consecutive UFC victories.
The Russian controlled large portions of the welterweight title fight at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, using his wrestling and ground control to neutralise Machado Garry and secure his 17th successive UFC victory.
The result moved Makhachev beyond Anderson Silva’s previous record of 16 consecutive UFC wins, giving the former lightweight champion another significant milestone in his career.
Makhachev also improved his professional record to 29 wins and one defeat, while Machado Garry suffered only the second loss of his 19-fight career.
The contest had been billed as a classic grappler-versus-striker battle, with Makhachev’s wrestling expected to be the biggest challenge for the Irish challenger. That proved to be the case from the opening round.
Makhachev secured his first takedown almost immediately and spent much of the opening five minutes keeping Machado Garry against the cage. The Irishman defended well from difficult positions, but struggled to create enough space to impose his striking.
The Russian continued his dominance in the second round, producing one of the biggest moments of the fight when he dropped Machado Garry with a head kick before taking him back to the canvas.
Despite finding himself under sustained pressure, Machado Garry repeatedly survived Makhachev’s attempts to establish a finishing position and managed to stay competitive enough to reach the final bell.
The challenger eventually found more success with his kicks and punches as the fight progressed. He also opened a cut on Makhachev’s face during a clinch exchange, but the champion remained composed and continued to dictate the grappling exchanges.
Makhachev finished the fight with seven unanswered takedowns and more than 12 minutes of control time, compared with just 34 seconds for Machado Garry.
Although the Irishman landed 29 significant strikes to Makhachev’s 22, his success on the feet was not enough to overcome the champion’s dominance on the ground.
All three judges ultimately awarded the fight to Makhachev, extending his remarkable winning run and adding another successful defence of his welterweight championship.
The victory ended Machado Garry’s hopes of becoming the first Irish UFC champion since Conor McGregor. The 28-year-old had entered the contest unbeaten in his first 18 professional fights and had confidently targeted the biggest achievement of his career.
After the decision was announced, however, Machado Garry showed respect to his opponent and raised Makhachev’s arm.
“Ian is a great fighter, good man and I respect him. He gave me a hard time but I still prove every fight,” Makhachev said.
Machado Garry apologised to his Irish supporters but insisted the defeat would not derail his ambitions.
“To all my fans, Ireland, everybody, I’m sorry I couldn’t get this done,” he said. “But I stand here as a man proud of what I’ve done, proud of where I came from and proud where this will take me. To all the fans who doubt me, I’ll be back.”
At 28, Machado Garry still has plenty of time to rebuild his title ambitions, while Makhachev’s latest victory further strengthened his position among the greatest fighters in UFC history.
Dern retains strawweight title
Mackenzie Dern also secured a successful title defence in the co-main event, defeating Gillian Robertson by unanimous decision to retain her strawweight championship.
Dern dominated much of the grappling exchanges and threatened to finish the fight on several occasions before eventually securing her fourth consecutive victory.
The 33-year-old said improving her wrestling had been a major focus after previous struggles in that area.
“My first title win I got taken down a lot of times so I’ve been working on my wrestling. I’m still the champion,” Dern said.
Robertson, 31, struggled to consistently threaten Dern and was unable to prevent the champion from controlling the key exchanges.
Elsewhere, the UFC confirmed a major featherweight title fight for UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on October 24.
Alexander Volkanovski will defend his featherweight championship against Movsar Evloev, while Petr Yan will put his bantamweight title on the line against former champion Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch.
England’s Lone’er Kavanagh will also face Uzbekistan’s Ramazan Tamirov in a flyweight contest, while English featherweight Arnold Allen is scheduled to meet American Aaron Pico.
For Makhachev, the focus now turns to the next challenge as he continues to build an extraordinary UFC legacy. His record-breaking winning streak has already placed him beyond Silva’s previous mark, and another victory would further strengthen the argument that he belongs among the greatest fighters the promotion has ever produced.