Ufc 284: Makhachev wins the fight, volk wins the night

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In a tightly contested fight that gave Islam Makhachev the win via 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 unanimous decision, the combat sambo fighter from Dagestan made his first successful title defense.

However, it was Volkanovski who walked away from the fight looking better than ever. The aussie, quite unbelievably, went into the fight as a +400 underdog. However, Volk was able to weather the storm on the ground and was never in any serious threat of getting submitted.

As the fight went on, Volk seemed to be getting stronger and Islam seemed to fade. This was underscored by a knockdown that came courtesy of a straight left from Volk with a minute to go in the fight. Volk proceeded to lay a vicious series of ground and pound strikes and finished the fight on top.

Makhachev did enough to win the fight, but it was an extremely close fight. It’s possible that if it lasted a minute longer, we would have crowned a double fifth double champ. It’s one of those odd circumstances where a fighter loses a fight, but gains just as much respect as if he had won.

So where does this leave us? What’s the solution? It’s simple, run it back.