UFC

Khabib Nurmagomedov wants the world to know Islam Makhachev is the best fighter in the world after the Russian star earned a submission win over Charles Oliveira to take the lightweight championship at UFC 280 on Saturday.

"I told you guys Islam Makhachev is the best fighter, not just in lightweight. He's No. 1 pound-for-pound in the world," Nurmagomedov said after the fight (h/t ESPN's Marc Raimondi). "Now plan is to fight pound-for-pound king Alexander Volkanovski in his home of Australia."

After the challenge was made, Volkanovski got in the cage to accept a bout for the lightweight championship and unofficial title of best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Coming into Saturday's event from Abu Dhabi, Oliveira told reporters Makhachev was only getting a title shot because of his relationship with Nurmagomedov.

"I think Islam deserves all the respect in the world," Oliveira said. "But I think he should’ve fought somebody maybe in the top five like I did, not just surf on someone else’s wave and skip the line like he did."

It's not an unfair statement for Oliveira to make. Makhachev's last fight before Saturday's bout was over Bobby Green in February. Green has been a journeyman fighter for most of his tenure in UFC and has a 29-13-1 career record in 43 fights.

Makhachev was originally supposed to take on Beneil Dariush on the show, but Green got the spot when Dariush had to withdraw because of an ankle injury.

Nurmagomedov, who vacated the lightweight title when he retired from competition after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, has moved into the coaching ranks. Makhachev is one of the fighters working with The Eagle.

Oliveira won the vacant 155-pound title by defeating Michael Chandler at UFC 262 in May 2021. Do Bronx was forced to vacate the championship for missing weight prior to his scheduled bout with Gaethje at UFC 274.

The win by Makhachev is, by far, the biggest of his career. It also improved his career record to 23-1.

Volkanovski is the most dominant current champion in UFC. The Great has held the featherweight crown for more than 1,000 days since beating Max Holloway in December 2019. He has successfully defended the title three times.

Despite primarily competing in the 145-pound division, Volkanovski does have three career fights as a lightweight. He hasn't competed in the division since 2016.

Islam Makhachev is the new UFC lightweight champion with a second-round submission win over Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 280 from Abu Dhabi.

Makhachev showed from the outset that he's more than just a wrestler. He cracked Oliveira on the feet in the first round before going to work with his vaunted grappling in a round that proved the champion was going to have his hands full from the opening bell.

The striking was once again a big factor in the lead-up to the finish. Makhachev intercepted a flying knee attempt from Oliveira with a two-punch combination that floored Do Bronx.

Makhachev wasted no time in following up, jumping on the arm-triangle choke that drew the tap.

The coronation is the ultimate achievement in the Russian's current 11-fight win streak. The 31-year-old has been slowly working his way up the rankings since starting the streak back in 2016.

Now he holds the spot that was long the possession of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who now trains Makhachev.

Whether the new champion can live up to the impressive legacy of his friend remains to be seen, but he already has his eyes set on challenging another UFC champion.

Alexander Volkanovski was the backup fighter if either Oliveira or Makhachev missed weight. The lightweight title was vacant because Oliveira failed to make weight in his defense against Justin Gaethje.

He was also there to meet the winner in the center of the cage after the fight:

Volkanovski didn't get his crack at gold Saturday, but Makhachev is willing to head to Australia in 2023 to defend his belt against the featherweight champ.

“Why not? Yes [I’ll fight Volkanovski in Australia],” Makhachev said this week, per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. “I went to Australia one time. I can go again."

Picking up his first title defense against a fighter of Volkanovski's caliber would only serve to further cement his status as a champion that's going to be hard to top.

Aljamain Sterling successfully held on to his UFC bantamweight championship with a second-round TKO win over TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of UFC 280 at Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates.

Aljo wasted not time in dragging the fight to his waters. He took down Dillashaw in the opening moments of the fight and seemingly injured the former champion's shoulder.

Sterling dominated the round going from mount to back control, threatening with rear-naked choke attempts and ground-and-pound throughout the round. When Dillashaw survived and went back to the corner it appeared his team was able to pop his shoulder back into place.

That was just a temporary solution, though, as the shoulder clearly was still bothering him, and he had no answer as Sterling simply bulldozed the challenger and drew the finish in the second round.

The win brings an added layer of credibility to Sterling as the champion of the bantamweight division. His reign as champion has been defined by his rivalry with Petr Yan. He first won the title on a controversial disqualification, which was followed by a split decision in the rematch.

Now, Sterling has won eight fights in a row and officially has his first title defense against someone not named Yan.

Yet another bout with Yan has already been raised, and Sterling was unwilling to engage too much with the idea in the lead-up to Saturday's fight.

"I’m worried about 'Mr. Needle-shaw' right now," Sterling told reporters when asked about his rival. “I’m not worried about [Yan]. He wins his fight, I win my fight, we’ll see what happens.”

Sterling was referring to Yan's main card matchup with Sean O'Malley. However, the Russian did not come up with a win, as O'Malley earned a split-decision victory over the former champion, thus generating a new possible matchup for the belt.

The UFC has other options as well. Marlon "Chito" Vera has been impressive lately and has a win over O'Malley. Merab Dvalishvili just beat José Aldo and has an eight-fight win streak.

Regardless of what the UFC does next, Sterling has proved he's the legitimate king of the bantamweight division.