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Dustin Poirier’s third attempt at undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) gold didn’t unfold as he hoped.

UFC 302 saw the reigning Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, successfully defend his throne for the third time, tying the divisional record when he locked in the fifth round d’arce choke for the win (watch highlights). Makhachev can now expect his fourth defense to come in a rematch of his clash with the No. 1-ranked contender, Arman Tsarukyan, from April 2019.

Tsarukyan, 27, was the first choice to be Makhachev’s dance partner at UFC 302 this past weekend (June 1, 2024). However, the offer came too soon for Tsarukyan when he was asked immediately after his split decision win over the former champion, Charles Oliveira, at UFC 300 in April 2024. Watching the recent title fight, Makhachev was disappointed in his teammate at American Top Team (ATT), Poirier.

“The first round went to Makhachev,” Tsarukyan told Outside MMA (h/t Championship Rounds). “I thought, ‘Damn, this Poirier is a complete sack.’ Then I saw that Poirier turned on, and Islam got tired and the fight became more interesting. Poirier surprised me. To be honest, I was more surprised by Islam, why he got tired so quickly and couldn’t fight.

“As we know, Islam doesn’t breathe that well in five round fights,” he continued. “This is the second five-round fight and he’s giving away the endings. I wonder where Islam found the strength to choke, but I have a feeling that Poirier just gave up. In terms of being mentally broken. There were 2.5 minutes left. Why are you giving up your neck? Well, endure it, get over it, do something, but don’t give up. There are 2.5 minutes left, your last fight, this is the most important and last fight in your life. You take it and just give it away. I wouldn’t just give it up.”

The aforementioned first Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan bout was the latter’s debut in UFC. Since then, Tsarukyan has established himself as one of the division’s elite. The champion, Makhachev, has targeted a possible “dream” title defense inside Madison Square Garden in November 2024.

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NJSACB slinging indefinite suspensions like guitar picks at a rock concert.

New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB) recently released its list of medical suspensions and injuries for those fighters competing in the UFC 302 lineup earlier this month (Sat., June 1, 2024) from inside Prudential Center in Newark, with multiple athletes drawing a wide range of suspensions, according to MMA Junkie.

That includes lightweight headliner Dustin Poirier, who will be sidelined indefinitely for a broken nose suffered in his submission loss to Islam Makhachev. In addition, UFC 302 co-headliners Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa were both benched until further notice, which may come as a surprise considering their ho-hum fight.

Complete UFC 302 medical suspensions listed below:

Ailin Perez: Suspended indefinitely until jaw cleared by oral surgeon; also suspended 30 days no contact.
Joselyne Edwards: Suspended indefinitely until right thumb X-ray cleared by doctor.
Bassil Hafez: Suspended 30 days no contact.
Mickey Gall: Suspended indefinitely pending nephrology clearance; also suspended 14 days.
Grant Dawson: Suspended 30 days no contact for left eyebrow laceration.
Jailton Almeida: Suspended indefinitely until left knee cleared by orthopedist.
Randy Brown: Suspended indefinitely until right big cleared by orthopedist.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos: Suspended indefinitely until ophthalmologist exam cleared.
Michal Oleksiejczuk: Suspended indefinitely until right elbow cleared by orthopedist.
Sean Strickland: Suspended indefinitely until left tibia/leg cleared by orthopedist.
Paulo Costa: Suspended indefinitely until right ankle/foot cleared by orthopedist; also suspended 30 days with 14 days no contact.
Islam Makhachev: Suspended 30 days for facial lacerations.
Dustin Poirier: Suspended indefinitely until nose cleared by ENT specialist; also suspended indefinitely until left knee cleared by orthopedist.

Just a quick reminder: Fighters often return to action much quicker once doctors give them the green light. The lengthy suspensions are just a precaution in most cases. In addition, not all injuries are recorded during the post-fight examination and often times surface in follow-up tests.

For complete UFC 302 results and play-by-play click here.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its official rankings to reflect the performances the UFC 302: “Makhachev vs. Poirier” pay-per-view (PPV) event, which took place last weekend (Sat., June 1, 2024) at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The most notable change came in the middleweight division, where one-time title challenger Paulo Costa slipped to No. 8 in the wake of his split decision loss to former 185-pound titleholder Sean Strickland.

The 33 year-old “Eraser” (14-4) has now dropped four of his last five.

Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:

Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.

Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Leon Edwards
4. Alex Pereira
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Sean O’Malley
7. Alexander Volkanovski
8. Max Holloway
9. Dricus Du Plessis
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Israel Adesanya
12. Charles Oliveira +1
13. Tom Aspinall -1
14. Sean Strickland
15. Aljamain Sterling

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Alex Perez
6. Muhammad Mokaev
7. Manel Kape
8. Matheus Nicolau
9. Steve Erceg
10. Tim Elliott
11. Matt Schnell
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Tatsuro Taira
14. David Dvorak +1
15. Cody Durden *NR

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Cory Sandhagen
3. Petr Yan
4. Marlon Vera
5. Henry Cejudo
6. Deiveson Figueiredo
7. Song Yadong
8. Jose Aldo
9. Rob Font
10. Umar Nurmagomedov
11. Kyler Phillips
12. Mario Bautista
13. Dominick Cruz
14. Jonathan Martinez
15. Pedro Munhoz

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Ilia Topuria

1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Movsar Evloev
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Aljamain Sterling
9. (T) Giga Chikadze
9. (T) Calvin Kattar
11. Lerone Murphy
12. Bryce Mitchell
13. Dan Ige
14. Diego Lopes
15. Edson Barboza

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Mateusz Gamrot
6. Michael Chandler
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Max Holloway
10. Renato Moicano
11. Dan Hooker
12. Jalin Turner
13. Benoit Saint-Denis
14. Rafael dos Anjos
15. Bobby Green

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Colby Covington
5. Jack Della Maddalena
6. Gilbert Burns
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Sean Brady
9. Stephen Thompson
10. Geoff Neal
11. Joaquin Buckley
12. Neil Magny
13. Michael Page
14. Vicente Luque
15. Kevin Holland

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Dricus Du Plessis

1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Brendan Allen
7. Nassourdine Imavov +1
8. Paulo Costa -1
9. Jack Hermansson
10. Khamzat Chimaev
11. Roman Dolidze
12. Caio Borralho
13. Michel Pereira
14. Anthony Hernandez
15. Chris Curtis

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Alex Pereira

1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jamahal Hill
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Anthony Smith
11. Carlos Ulberg
12. Bogdan Guskov
13. Alonzo Menifield
14. Azamat Murzakanov
15. Dominick Reyes

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Alexander Volkov
6. Stipe Miocic
7. Jailton Almeida
8. Marcin Tybura
9. Serghei Spivac
10. Derrick Lewis
11. Tai Tuivasa
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Manon Fiorot
5. (T) Julianna Pena
5. (T) Raquel Pennington
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Erin Blanchfield
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Amanda Lemos
13. Ketlen Vieira
14. Kayla Harrison
15. Maycee Barber

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Tatiana Suarez
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Virna Jandiroba
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Angela Hill
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Tabatha Ricci
12. Luana Pinheiro
13. Iasmin Lucindo
14. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
15. Gillian Robertson

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Maycee Barber
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Katlyn Cerminara
8. Natalia Silva
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Viviane Araújo
11. Tracy Cortez
12. Karine Silva
13. Ariane Da Silva
14. Casey O’Neill
15. Jasmine Jasudavicius

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Raquel Pennington

1. Julianna Pena
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Mayra Bueno Silva
4. Kayla Harrison
5. Irene Aldana
6. Holly Holm
7. Macy Chiasson
8. Miesha Tate
9. Karol Rosa
10. Norma Dumont
11. Pannie Kianzad
12. Yana Santos
13. Julia Avila
14. Chelsea Chandler
15. Germaine De Randamie

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the middleweight division, following the UFC Louisville: “Cannonier vs. Imavov” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., June 8, 2024 at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.

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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

A low of eyebrows raised when the pre-fight press conference planned for Dublin, Ireland was postponed at the very last-second. Immediately, speculation and concern about Conor McGregor and his expected comeback performance rose, and a vague public statement from the Irish superstar did little to assuage concerns.

Theories from drug use to issues with the law rose quickly, but the current rumor and speculation inside the industry is that McGregor suffered a minor injury. There’s only a few weeks until the UFC 303 card, so what happens if McGregor isn’t able to recover and perform?

According to Chael Sonnen, McGregor will be there, because it’s part of his fighter’s code to show up no matter what. However, if McGregor is unable to attend, Sonnen expects UFC to turn to Max Holloway to save the day and put his BMF title on the line against Michael Chandler.

“A man will live his life by a code, and that code might not be in line with standard societal policies or even laws, but he will adhere to that code at all costs. One of Conor’s codes is the show must go on! When he was broken in half his last fight, and Joe said, ‘I don’t interview injured guys, we got to get you on a stretcher,’ Conor called him over and pulled him down to the mat. Joe sat down to do that interview, why? Because we’ve yet to fade to black and roll the credits, and the show must go on.

I happened to be with Conor McGregor when Jose Aldo pulled out and Chad Mendes got stuck in. We’re on the campus of ESPN doing some media. I was there when Conor took the call and couldn’t have possibly cared any less of the opponent change because the show must go on! I just don’t believe that a month in advance — whether it’s illness or injury or any other excuse — that Conor is gonna be the one to pull. It would change the code that he must, as a human being, fiercely adhere to.

But I will tell you this: there will be no postponement of this fight. They either fight on the 29th or we move on. Oh, and by the way, the show is still gonna happen. I believe Conor is gonna be opposite Michael Chandler, I’m very confident in telling you that. However, if he’s not, Michael Chandler vs. Max Holloway for the BMF is the fight to book.”

There’s still a lot of unknowns regarding McGregor’s situation and why he canceled the media obligations. His preparation for UFC 303 could be going perfectly! If something is up, however, it would be hard to ask for a better replacement for a marquee fight than Max Holloway.

Stay tuned for further updates to UFC 303 and the Conor McGregor situation.

Insomnia

Maybe I’m reading into this a bit, but it feels like Islam Makhachev would be more willing to cross paths with Belal Muhammad than the opposite.

Elite kickboxers working their close distance offense in a controlled fashion:

Guram Kutateladze finally has an opponent and return date booked.

A demonstration on why the top rule in wrestling is not to wrestle from your knees! Knees can touch for a second, but then it’s time to build back up to good posture.

Jailton Almeida vs. Ciryl Gane is so clearly the fight to book.

Here’s wishing Marlon Moraes the best in his next chapter!

Chris Curtis would certainly test whether or not Paulo Costa still has that dog in him — book it!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

If you need a regional Heavyweight fight to end via knockout (one way or another), ex-UFC Middleweight Alex Nicholson is the guy to call.

Stepped hard into the cross and it landed flush:

This is the level of aggression and opportunism it takes to capitalize as a big underdog.

Random Land

If you haven’t seen it, go watch Godzilla Minus One. It’s awesome!

Midnight Music: Soul, 1966

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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Kamaru Usman is still contemplating his next move.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion hasn’t won a fight since his Colby Covington rematch in November 2021. Usman scored the unanimous decision victory against his rival and has lost three in a row for the first and only time in his 24-fight career (20-4).

Two of Usman’s three latest losses came against the current Welterweight kingpin, Leon Edwards, leaving him in limbo within the 170-pound title picture. Therefore, it led the “Nigerian Nightmare” to Middleweight for a short-notice tilt opposite Khamzat Chimaev in October 2023, Despite his best efforts, Usman suffered a majority decision defeat in the three-round affair. Now, Usman has thought of a new possible match up after witnessing Dustin Poirier fall into a similar realm at UFC 302 this past weekend (June 1, 2024).

“He’s got fights. The [Alexander] Volkanovski fight could — that’s a fun fight,” Usman said on Pound 4 Pound. “I’m not in any way throwing my hat in, but [if] he wants to go up, hey, that’s a fun fight. I’m not saying I’m welcoming the fight, don’t do it. I’m not saying that, but I always put my mind there. If I was to ever compete against a guy like Dustin Poirier, that would be a fantastic one because it’s a guy that I could really respect through and through the process.

“It’s like you and your main training partner and you’re just like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to beat each other up. We’re going to push each other to the brink.’ That would be a fun fight, but I’m not throwing [my name in the] hat,” he concluded.

Poirier’s recent fifth round d’arce choke submission loss (watch highlights) to Lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, came in his third-career attempt at becoming an undisputed UFC champion. At 35, Poirier is considering retirement as he ponders why he’d keep fighting.

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Former UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, watched the UFC 302: “Makhachev vs. Poirier” pay-per-view (PPV) card from the comfort of his couch, putting a particular emphasis on the five-round middleweight co-main event between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa.

Adesanya may end up facing one of them in a rematch at some point in 2025.

“Costa sucks off the back foot — he’s not really good off the back foot,” Adesanya said on YouTube. “He’s doing better in this fight. Costa could set him up so bad here, man, because (Strickland is) so worried about that leg. It’s easier said than done, I’ll tell you that, but if you’ve worked on it, you know how to do it.”

Despite a wonky scorecard, Strickland captured an uninspired decision victory over Costa.

“This is what I thought he would do,” Adesanya continued. “He’s walking him down. He’s possibly losing the rounds because he’s not really landing as much but he’s just like, ‘You know what? I’ll break him and eventually I’ll just storm him.’ [Strickland] hammer fists your face, that’s how he throws his jab, he just throws a hammer fist.”

Adesanya, who defeated Costa at UFC 253 but fell to Strickland at UFC 293, is expected to face off against current middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at some point later this year, with Strickland — or perhaps the winner of this fight — next in line.

For more UFC 302 results and fallout click here.

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Dear Mr. Chandler: Nobody cares about your dumb training video.

The combat sports world was turned upside down late last night when Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) hastily postponed its UFC 303 kickoff press conference in Dublin, a ticketed event featuring mixed martial arts (MMA) megastar Conor McGregor.

More on that unfolding drama here and here.

Not surprisingly, UFC fans have been monitoring social media for updates and as of this writing, the promotion has yet to explain why the press conference was shelved and has not given any indication as to whether or not the UFC 303 headliner is still intact.

UFC 303 is scheduled for June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Chandler recently uploaded sparring footage to his Twitter account along with some rah-rah sentiment about chasing your dreams. Fans in the comment section were unimpressed with the effort and demanded an explanation for the recent press conference drama.

Spoiler alert: they didn’t get one.

McGregor has yet to comment on today’s cancelation.

“Notorious” has not competed since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier back in summer 2021. His return was originally expected to follow The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 31; however, drug-testing issues and Road House filming obligations kept him at bay.

Hopefully we can get answers about UFC 303 at some point later today.

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Late Sunday night (June 2, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced on their social media that the special UFC 303 Dublin press conference featuring Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler has been postponed until further announcement.

The press conference was scheduled to take place 12 hours after the cancelation

“The UFC 303 press conference scheduled for Monday June 3rd in Dublin, Ireland at 3Arena has been postponed until further notice,” UFC wrote in a statement. “We sincerely apologize to all the fans who were planning to attend. When we have further information on a new date and time, we will share it immediately. – Thank you.”

Monday’s press conference was open and free for the fans and was sold out within five minutes.

During the UFC 302 post-fight press conference last night (Sat., June 1, 2024), UFC CEO Dana White said he was leaving for Dublin after he was done.

McGregor and Chandler have not released a statement yet, but MMAMania.com will have you covered when the two UFC 303 headliners say something.

Maybe McGregor was too hungover to attend.

For the latest UFC 303 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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Costa released a fiery statement after his disappointing decision loss to Sean Strickland in New Jersey.

Paulo Costa is sick of losing fights on the judges’ scorecard.

“Borrachinha” has had a lot of success outside of the cage over the past few years. He negotiated a new big money contract with the UFC and has gained tens of thousands of new fans through his cheeky social media presence. But when it comes to the actual fighting, it’s been a different story. It took him over a year to actually complete the first fight on his new deal, and he’s now 0-2 after losing decisions to Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland.

The Whittaker fight was close, and Costa came closest to actually finishing that fight with a massive headkick in the dying seconds of round one. But the Strickland fight at UFC 302 was a slow grind, exactly the fight “Tarzan” excels in. Paulo never managed to get off the backfoot, and cruised to a split decision loss that was unanimous in the eyes of everyone watching.

A day after the disappointing defeat in New Jersey, Costa tweeted a video sharing his thoughts on the disappointing outcome of the fight.

“Yeah, Sean won. I didn’t perform very well,” he said. “I think he didn’t either, but at least he did enough to win, right? This is two losses in a row in three fights, three former champs — Luke Rockhold, Whittaker, and Sean. I won one and lost two.”

“But let me tell you something, I agree with Dana [White] and Joe Rogan, and I will do that — I will bring back the Paulo that takes heads off, to finish the fight. Sorry. I’m not that kind of counter guy. I do better moving forward and trying to finish and look for heads. Sean is so awkward, so different kind of fighter to fight against, it’s difficult. He was teeping me, keep pushing me, keeping me far from him, because he knows the power that I have. And I have the power, so I need to deliver that — and I will do that.”

“I won’t give a f—,” Costa declared. “F— points, or conserving energy, or f— anything about that. I will come to take heads off. And this is who I am, this is the kind of fighter I am, and the fighter who people expect that I perform. So I will do that. F— points, I’ve enough of this. Even the first round that I was 100 percent sure that I won, some people thought I lost. F— them. I will come to take heads off. That’s it. Who I am.”

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the “Borrachinha” that takes people’s heads off. The last knockout finish from Paulo came all the way back in 2018, when he KO’d Uriah Hall at UFC 226. He was a beast back then, though. That was his fourth UFC knockout in a row, and his tenth consecutive stoppage win. But he’s having some trouble channeling that violence at the upper echelons of the sport.

What do you think, Maniacs? Does Paulo Costa have what it takes to turn things around, or has he lost the fire he had back in 2017 when he was mollywhopping everyone with ease? Let us know in the comments below!

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Islam Makhachev is No. 1 in the UFC’s official pound for pound rankings, but not in Dana White’s heart. Here’s what the Mak had to say about that at the UFC 302 presser.

Islam Makhachev isn’t too concerned about UFC CEO Dana White’s comments denying he’s the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in the world. But he’s still looking for the biggest fights possible that will elevate him to that level.

Makhachev put on a strong performance against a very game Dustin Poirier at UFC 302, bringing the fight to “Diamond” on the feet and submitting him halfway through the fifth round (highlights here). It wasn’t pure domination like we’re used to from his friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, but it was a reminder that Islam will be very hard to dethrone at 155 pounds.

But is he P4P No. 1 in the UFC right now? Not according to White, who vehemently declared Jon Jones to be over Makhachev, no questions asked. That’s despite Makhachev holding the No.1 position in the official UFC rankings since last year.

When it was the Dagestani fighter’s turn to speak at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, he shrugged off White’s statements.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s his opinion,” he said. “But I think I saved this card today, because all these fights boring, and all the arena almost sleep. And we show with Dustin [a] great performance. Dana gave me two bonuses. Before I remember when I had first contract, I [was] happy when I got bonuses. But now it’s okay.”

Makhachev’s mission now is to get a second belt at welterweight.

“Who don’t want to be double champion?” he said when asked about his future. “This is history, how many double champs we have? This is a dream for all fighters to get second belt. This is my dream, and I want to be in the history so people know me as double champ. If I have chance, small chance, I will get [it], and it’s [this] thing that makes me wake up in the every morning and train very hard.”

The win over Poirier marks Makhachev’s third successful lightweight title defense. No one has defended that belt four times, but Islam seemed uninterested in stepping out ahead of the pack at 155 in that way.

“I don’t follow the records, beat some record or something like this,” he said. “If you want great legacy, you have to get second belt. It’s my opinion.”

A second belt is definitely flashier on the resume, but right now it looks like the UFC is going to have Makhachev defend the lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan next.

“I’m ready,” Islam said regarding that fight. “Dana have my number. Just call me and put some new challenge. It not make sense [why] we’d have rematch, but if Dana wants it, let’s do it. No problem.”

The only ask Makhachev has is to compete in New York City instead of Abu Dhabi.

“Honestly, it’s my dream fighting Madison Square Garden,” he explained. “And now I think the US fans like me because we show good fight tonight. If they give me a chance to come back in Madison Square Garden, this is my dream, fight in this arena.”

Unfortunately for Makhachev, the UFC’s Madison Square Garden card in November is already earmarked for the Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic heavyweight title fight. So once again Jones is messing Islam’s biz up, making Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan much more likely for October in Abu Dhabi.

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