Makhachev on a high

Islam showed why he is P4P #1

The 2025 UFC fight year began with devastating news. On the day of the weigh-in, Arman Tsarukyan, the original opponent who was supposed to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title, injured his neck. Dana White acted quickly and booked Renato Moicano, who was scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush in a preliminary bout that same evening, for the main event. The Brazilian's opportunity for the belt fell into his lap out of the blue.

A huge risk for the champion, who, as the P4P king, felt "obligated" to give the fans at the Inuit Dome in Los Angeles a fight. And he did so in impressive fashion.

Moicano, number 10 in the lightweight rankings and until yesterday the fighter with the longest winning streak in his division, started actively and delivered a balanced duel in the stand-up.

After three minutes, Makhachev had seen enough and brought his opponent down. A brief ground and pound followed. Makhachev then applied a D'Arce choke and was able to force Moicano to submit with about a minute left in the round.

A great performance from the champion. With this victory, he underscores his status as the best pound-for-pound fighter and is close to equaling Anderson Silva's record for most consecutive UFC wins.

Merab "The Machine" Dvalishvili

His incredible fitness helped the Georgian to victory once again

The co-main event featured another "and-still." A spectacular bantamweight bout between champion Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov featured 25 minutes of action.

Umar started strongly, making his mark early in the fight with sharp combinations and excellent takedown defense. However, the champion remained unfazed and lived up to his moniker, "The Machine."

While Umar, who claimed to have severely injured his left hand after round 1, seemed to be getting tired, Merab really turned on the turbo starting in round 3. He landed takedown attempt after takedown attempt and ultimately overwhelmed Umar, who was able to defend himself repeatedly, with his power.

Merab felt like he could have fought 10 rounds that evening. He won by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) and thus celebrated a well-deserved title defense.