UFC 302 Takeaways: Makhachev, Poirier greatness salvage disappointing card

Someone needs to locate the glove Adriano Martins wore on his right hand when he knocked out Islam Makhachev at UFC 192 in October of 2015, frame it, and make sure it ends up in the UFC Hall of Fame because it played a role in the lone blemish on the reigning undisputed lightweight champion’s phenomenal record.

Makhachev defended his title Saturday at UFC 302 with a fifth-round submission victory over fan favourite Dustin Poirier to cement his status as one of the most talented 155-pounders in mixed martial arts history.

The 32-year-old from Dagestan has 14 consecutive victories since that anomalous loss to Martins nine years ago. And, he set a new UFC lightweight record for longest winning streak, which is now at 13 – one of his victories on his current 14-fight streak was a catchweight bout, otherwise he’d already have that record.

Makhachev leapfrogged Tony Ferguson and his teammate, coach and former undisputed champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, who both had 12-fight winning streaks in lightweight competition during their primes. Makhachev also tied Nurmagomedov, B.J. Penn and Benson Henderson by earning a fourth title fight win within the division.

Nurmagomedov was in Makhachev’s corner at New Jersey’s Prudential Center and couldn’t contain his joy when his pupil got the D’Arce choke finish with less than three minutes remaining in the final round.

You could see on the champion’s face it was the toughest fight of his current streak; he absorbed more significant strikes against Poirier than he did in any of his previous UFC appearances.

“To be honest today, Islam grew a lot. You don’t even understand,” Nurmagomedov said after the event via the UFC’s social media. “When you go deep like today it shows people and you understand your body and your (spirit), how deep you can go even more. There is more place. All the time people underestimate themselves, our body, our soul, we can go more deeper than like five rounds, 10 rounds, you just have to find this. You have to be relaxed and find this way. … It was a very deep fight.”

Makhachev should maintain his spot at No. 1 in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings unless the members of the voting panel get scared off by Dana White’s post-fight comments. White said that he believes it’s crazy for anyone to not have current heavyweight and former light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones atop the P4P list.

Regardless of his pound-for-pound standing and how soon he decides to leave the lightweight division – Makhachev wants to fight for the welterweight title and become a two-weight champ, plus, he holds a previous victory over next-in-line lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan – Makhachev’s performance against Poirier and his individual accomplishments in the shadow of Nurmagomedov’s heralded career are nothing short of masterful.

“Incredible fight. Both guys dug deep, absolute war,” White said of the main event at the post-fight press conference. “Islam is tough as hell and talented. He ate some big body shots tonight, took that elbow to the forehead. And I thought that Poirier did an unbelievable job at stuffing takedowns and getting up when he was in nasty positions, staying out of that submission in the first round. You couldn’t ask for more for a main event title fight.”

If UFC 302 ends up being Poirier’s final fight, as he suggested it could be, “The Diamond” can rest easy knowing he is one of the most respected and accomplished fighters of his era despite never winning an undisputed title. 

“It’s up to him. It’s not up to me. It’s up to him,” White said of Poirier’s future. “He knows what he wants, doesn’t want. He knows how he felt, he knows how he feels right now. That’s all up to him. Listen, he’s a star. He can stay here as long as he wants to.”

Makhachev and Poirier pushing each other to the limit for four-plus rounds salvaged what was an otherwise disappointing UFC 302 card.

“I think I saved this card today because all these fights boring, and all the arena almost sleep and we show with Dustin great performance,” Makhachev added.  

Makhachev earned a double bonus with the pair taking Fight of the Night and the champ also taking home a Performance of the Night for his seventh submission win in the UFC.

Nine of the 12 fights on Saturday went the distance and all three finishes were by submission. Zero knockouts. 

NO KNOCKOUTS WITH NEW GLOVES JUST A COINCIDENCE?

As mentioned, there were zero knockouts or technical knockouts at UFC 302. In fact, there were only two registered knockdowns the entire night – a spinning backfist from Ailin Perez on Joselyne Edwards, and a left hand from Roman Kopylov that briefly sent Cesar Almeida to the mat.

Unusual for a UFC event, sure. But another reason this is notable is because the UFC debuted redesigned gloves at UFC 302 – gloves that have not received universal acclaim.

The main purpose of the redesign was supposedly fighter safety. They are specifically meant to decrease the number of eye pokes that happen during competition, however there were repeated eye poke infractions in the opening bout of the prelims and they continued throughout the night.

Between the eye pokes, the lack of knockdowns and KO/TKO finishes, not to mention the UFC logos on Makhachev’s and Poirier’s gloves beginning to wear off during their headline bout, it was not the best first impression.

BAD JUDGING WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE BUT STILL CONCERNING

What the heck was going on in New Jersey with some of those scorecards?

The first fight on the early prelims was an indication of how the night was likely going to go. Andre Lima had seemingly done enough to get his hand raised after getting the better of Mitch Raposo for most of their three-round catchweight bout. Lima forfeited 30 per cent of his purse as the lone fighter from UFC 302 to miss weight Friday, and before he knew he’d be receiving his reduced win bonus, he had to hold his breath for a moment when the scorecards were being read aloud. Two judges scored all three rounds for Lima but the third, which is also how the broadcast team of Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier saw it.

Judge Dave Tirelli did not however, awarding two rounds and the fight to Raposo.

“That’s one of the craziest scorecards anyone has ever put in,” Joe Rogan said on the broadcast.

Seconds later, Jon Anik added: “That’s one of the most questionable scorecards I’ve heard uttered.”

Judge Chris Lee also had an odd judgement when he scored two rounds for Cesar Almeida during Almeida’s loss to Roman Kopylov later on in the prelims. 

Tirelli, though, struck again in the co-main event with even more egregious scoring that had Paulo Costa winning four of five rounds against Sean Strickland.

White said of the Costa scorecard: “That wasn’t weird, it was (expletive) nuts is what it was. Insane. That guy should never (judge) a big fight ever again. They should kick him back to the minor leagues and let him work on his judging. It’s unbelievable. How anybody who isn’t an absolute (expletive) lunatic could call that fight a split decision…I don’t even know what to say about that.”

The suspect scoring speaks to a larger issue with judging in MMA. But thankfully at UFC 302, no fighter that deserved a win had one unceremoniously taken away from them.