Saturday afternoon’s main event for UFC 242 more than lived up to the hype with two of the best lightweights in the game duking it out to be named the undisputed lightweight champion.
Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) continued his dominance in the lightweight division in his first fight since his nine-month suspension from the incident with Conor McGregor with a third-round submission of Lafayette native Dustin Poirier (25-6).
“With the memorabilia sold, we’re going to reach the goal and we’re going to build a solar-powered water welI for pygmy people orphanage and school in Uganda.” an emotional Porieri said during the post-fight press conference“ wanted to leave tonight the world champ and I just let myself down.”
Outside of a couple of solid strikes in the second round from Poirier, it was all Nurmagomedov. After the fight, the two fighters showed respect for one another and Khabib implored for the fans in attendance in Abu Dhabi to donate to Poirier’s charity.
“Why do we have so much more respect between us than the last fight? You know this *expletive* guy [McGregor] that I had a lot of crazy stuff but I want to forget everything,” Nurmagomedov said. “We show what this is in MMA that No. 1 is respect. That is what your coach teaches you first that you have to respect the gym, your teammates and to clean the gym. MMA is not about trash talking and this is what we show.”
Main Card
Lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) def. Dustin Poirier (ic) Submission (rear-naked choke)
Lightweight Paul Felder def. Edson Barboza Decision (split) (27-30, 29-28, 30-27)
Lightweight Islam Makhachev def. Davi Ramos Decision (unanimous) (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Heavyweight Curtis Blaydes def. Shamil Abdurakhimov TKO (elbow and punches)
Lightweight Carlos Diego Ferreira def. Mairbek Taisumov Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
Preliminary Card (FX/ESPN+)
Women’s Flyweight Joanne Calderwood def. Andrea Lee Decision (split) (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Lerone Murphy Draw (split) (28-29, 29-28, 28-28)
Sarah Moras def. Liana Jojua TKO (punches and elbows)
Ottman Azaitar def. Teemu Packalén KO (punch)
Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Belal Muhammad def. Takashi Sato Submission (rear-naked choke)
Muslim Salikhov def. Nordine Taleb KO (punch)
Omari Akhmedov def. Zak Cummings Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Don Madge def. Fares Ziam Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)