Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD/PERTH: Islam Makhachev retained his lightweight title as he won a hard-fought decision over Alexander Volkanovski in the UFC 284 on Saturday in Perth, Australia.
The battle of the two best pound-for-pound fighters worldwide was as closely-contested as one would expect.
Makhachev tested to the limits
It was a back-and-forth brawl up till the final bell with Volkanovski, who had the support of a home crowd, bringing the best out of Makhachev.
The Australian in his bid to become the ‘champ-champ’ stunned the Dagestani a couple of times. However, Makhachev continuously found ways to turn the tables, utilised everything he had, from striking to his suffocating ground game to defend his lightweight title for the first time.
In the end, the judges scored the fight 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 in favour of Makhachev and handing Volkanovski the first loss of his UFC career.
In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmet in the second round to claim the interim featherweight title and establish himself as the next challenger to Volkanovski at 145lbs.
Welterweight prospect Jack Della Maddalena scored a first-round submission against Randy Brown to win his fourth UFC bout.
In another fight, Aussie heavyweight Justin Tafa put slept his with a left hand from hell, scoring a walk-off first-round knockout.
This light heavyweight main card opener between Jimmy Crute and Alonzo Menifield ended in a draw as both fighters went back and forth in a thrilling back-and-forth affair that went the full 15-minute distance.
