The champ stays the champ.
Islam Makhachev closed UFC 311 by defending his lightweight title against Renato Moicano, beating the short-notice opponent via first-round submission.
The UFC’s pound-for-pound No. 1 proved on Saturday why he holds that title as he’s now the first lightweight champion to successfully defend the belt four consecutive times. His latest victory — this one coming by a D’Arce choke at 4:05 of Round 1 — improved the Dagestani to 27-1-0 in MMA (16-1-0 in UFC).
Makhachev originally claimed the 155-pound belt in 2022 by dispatching Charles Oliveira via submission and hasn’t faltered since.
He was originally supposed to take on Arman Tsarukyan for UFC 311’s main event in Inglewood, Calif. but those plans changed at the 11th hour. Tsarukyan pulled out of the title fight one day before it was set to take place, citing a back injury as the cause. In stepped Moicano for a career-first championship bout.
The Brazilian was meant to fight Beneil Dariush on the main card of UFC 311 but moved up in place of the ailing Tsarukyan to keep the main event alive. And while his effort was commendable, No. 10-ranked “Money” Moicano was no match for the champ. His loss to Makhachev put an end to his five-fight win streak.
With the victory, the champ extended his victory streak to 15 straight and has still not lost since 2015. Now, his reign continues with no end in sight.
Makhachev wasn’t the only champ to keep his belt on Saturday as Merab Dvalishvili retained the bantamweight title in the penultimate bout of UFC 311, taking care of business against top-ranked contender Umar Nurmagomedov.
It was Dvalishvili’s first career title defence since dethroning former champ Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in September. “The Machine” has now won five consecutive bouts, Saturday’s victory coming by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46).
The UFC will return in two weeks at its home base, the Apex in Las Vegas. While it’s a Fight Night card, it will feature its fair share of top-tier talent, namely former middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, in his first non-title bout since 2019, taking on Nassourdine Imavov.