Khabib Nurmagomedov became the UFC lightweight champion, after outpointing a tough Al Iaquinta over five rounds, whilst Rose Namajunas outscored Joanna Jedrzejczyk to retain the women’s strawweight title in a brilliant five-round battle.
Khabib Nurmagomedov landed his first takedown after just a minute, with Iaquinta making it back to the feet despite the Russian threatening with a rear-naked choke. Nurmagomedov spent the rest of the round completely dominating the late replacement on the canvas.
The opening round began just as the first one did, with one minute down, Khabib shoots for the takedown and gets it. A ground battle ensures, with Nurmagomedov hunting for a submission. Iaquinta continued to survive… but it was in no doubt that Khabib was dominating.
The first half of the third saw Khabib looking to demonstrate his striking skills, busting open Iaquinta’s nose. Iaquinta landed a couple of good, clean strikes of his own, countering Khabib’s high chin. The Russian was clearly three rounds up, but Iaquinta earns some stripes for heading into the championship rounds on the shortest of notices.
Surprisingly, Khabib continued to look to keep the fight on the feet in the fourth and fifth rounds, with the New Yorker looking the more dangerous on the feet. Nurmagomedov continued to keep his chin high, and Iaquinta would continue to target both the body and the chin. Khabib eventually scored his first takedown since the second round. He continued to threaten with his submissions… but against all the odds, Al Iaquinta survived all five rounds.
A dominant unanimous decision victory followed for Khabib, with the Dagestani becoming the most disputed, undisputed lightweight champion in the history of the UFC. He called for Georges St. Pierre post fight, but will we see Tony Ferguson or Conor McGregor fight Nurmagomedov… potentially in Russia!?
Conor McGregor - lineal champion
Tony Ferguson - recently stripped interim champion
Khabib Nurmagomedov - new champion
Clear enough for ya?
#UFC223
The first two rounds saw Namajunas in control, landing the harder shots and damaging her Polish opponent’s eye early. Her head movement, timing and her ability to dip in and out of range led to ‘Thug Rose’ racing in to a two-round advantage.
However, the former champion was not going out without a fight, repeatedly targeting Rose’s leg with some brutal kicks. The third round was to be Joanna’s and the fourth was a close one to score, with Jedrzejczyk continuing to target the leg as well as finding her timing.
The fifth round looked to be a pivotal one, with Namajunas again landing the bigger shots. Joanna’s eye continued to close over, proving a difficult problem in the latter stages of the fight. A takedown in the closing stages sealed the deal for Namajunas.
The judges scored the fight 49-46 in favour of Namajunas, with the twenty-five-year-old leaving no doubt about who the best 115-pounder in the world is!
Outside of the main event, Zabit Magomedsharipov and Kyle Bochniak engaged in the fight of the night with a brilliant featherweight spectacle, showing Zabit’s crazy, spinning arsenal of strikes and Bochniak’s sheer heart, will and determination.
The octagon moves on to Glendale, Arizona next week, with Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje going to battle in a lightweight main event.
Full Results
UFC Lightweight Championship: Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Al Iaquinta via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-43, 50-43).
UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship: Rose Namajunas def. Joanna Jedrzejczyk via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46).
Featherweight: Renato Moicano def. Calvin Kattar via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Featherweight: Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Kyle Bochniak via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Lightweight: Chris Gruetzemacher def. Joe Lauzon via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00.
Women’s Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Felice Herrig via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Lightweight: Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Evan Dunham via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:53.
Women’s Flyweight: Ashlee Evans-Smith def. Bec Rawlings via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Light Heavyweight: Devin Clark def. Michael Rodriguez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
