Islam Makhachev reinforced his status as one of the great MMA fighters as he earned a unanimous decision win over Ian Machado Garry to retain his UFC welterweight title.
Makhachev made the most of his dominant grappling in a tense five-round battle in the main event of UFC 330 in Philadelphia.
Irish challenger Garry, 28, caused plenty of problems for the champion, but Makhachev's superior wrestling techniques saw him safely through as he set a new UFC record of 17 victories in a row in the promotion.
Being at a considerable disadvantage in terms of height and reach, Makhachev brought the fight to the mat early in the first round with a quick single-leg takedown. Still, Garry worked his way back to his feet without suffering any damage.
In the second round, the Russian connected with a high kick to Garry's head that left him stunned, and again the fight went to the ground.
This time, Garry was left on his back in the middle of the cage, but somehow managed to get back to his feet as he survived the round.
The tide briefly turned in Garry's favour midway through the third round when he began to find his range, landing heavy kicks to the body and leg of his opponent and largely avoiding being taken down.
But Makhachev went back to his grappling in the fourth round to regain control of the bout.
Likely needing a finish to clinch the fight, Garry gave his all in the final frame, but the Russian champion managed to stay out of trouble as he held on to win on the scorecards of all three judges.
“Ian is a great fighter, a good man, and I just respect him. He gave me a hard time, but I still prove myself every fight. Thank you for this match,” Makhachev said.
Despite the defeat, Garry sounded confident and said the match showed he was on the right path.
“I have nothing but respect for Islam Makhachev, he broke a record tonight,” Garry told TNT Sports.
“It might be one step backwards but I will return. I'm only 28, I can have another decade of dominating in this sport.”
It was a hard-fought win for 34-year-old Makhachev who had said that he “does not have much time” left in UFC.
“I'm not like young guy. Now it's better for me to fight every three to four months,” Makhachev told UFC Hall of Famer Demetrious Johnson.
“I understand I'm not 28 years old; I'm 34 right now. And I don't have much time.
“Sometimes it's not going like you want in the UFC. You want to fight after three or four months, but it's not according to your wish.”
Makhachev had moved up in weight last year after his fourth lightweight title defence.
In the co-main event, American-Brazilian Mackenzie Dern retained her women's strawweight title with a decision victory over Gillian Robertson of Canada.
Dern had declared she would not let Robertson last the distance, but the champion was pleased with her complete five-round performance.
“She's good … thank you everyone. I appreciate you,” Dern said following the win.
