The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday returned to the United Arab Emirates with UFC 242—an event at The Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi that was headlined by a lightweight title unification bout between the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov and American Top Team’s Dustin Poirier. While there were a number of memorable performances, five stood out.
Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC (Getty Images)
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UFC242
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1. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Nurmagomedov moved to a remarkable 28-0 with yet another dominant performance, as he submitted Dustin Poirier with a third-round rear-naked choke. Poirier conceded defeat 2:06 into Round 3, becoming the latest victim in the Dagestani brute’s march toward immortality. Nurmagomedov stifled the American Top Team star with clinches, takedowns and oppressive positional control, slowly but surely chipping away at his resolve. Poirier went all-in on an attempted guillotine in the third round, only to see “The Eagle” free himself and transition to his back. From there, the finish was a formality. Nurmagomedov snaked his arms into place around the Louisianan’s exposed neck, cinched the choke and forced the tapout.
Photo: Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Getty Images)
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2. Diego Ferreira
On a quiet but impressive run of success that now stretches across more than four years, Ferreira made his case as a legitimate contender at 155 pounds and extended his current winning streak to five fights with a unanimous decision over the favored Mairbek Taisumov. Scores were 29-28, 29-27 and 29-27. The Texas-based Brazilian pressed a pace Taisumov could not match in the second and third rounds, eventually overwhelming him with high-volume offense. In fact, Ferreira wore down the Chechen to such a degree that he managed to outland him by a staggering 100-32 count across the final 10 minutes of their encounter.
Photo: Francois Nel (Getty Images)
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3. Ottman Azaitar
Talk about an eye-popping first impression. The undefeated Azaitar made his UFC debut on the undercard, where the power-punching Moroccan authored one of the more unsettling knockouts of 2019 at Teemu Packalen’s expense. He stunned Packalen on multiple occasions, stonewalled a series of desperate takedown attempts and delivered the kill shot in the center of the cage: a devastating overhand right behind the ear 3:33 into Round 1. The 32-year-old Packalen froze where he stood and fell to the ground facedown, his right leg twitching involuntarily. It was the ninth first-round finish of Azaitar’s career.
Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC (Getty Images)
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4. Curtis Blaydes
Elevation Fight Team’s Blaydes remained undefeated against everyone not named Francis Ngannou—a man two whom he has lost twice—with a second-round technical knockout of Shamil Abdurakhimov. He executed repeated takedowns, moved to dominant positions and unleashed punishment from above. Abdurakhimov survived a lopsided first round but not the second. There, Blaydes dumped him to the mat once again, shifted to half guard and planted an elbow in the middle of the Dagestani kickboxer’s face. Aburakhimov reacted immediately, covered his visibly damaged nose and turned away to avoid further contact, necessitating the stoppage 2:22 into Round 2.
Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC (Getty Images)
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5. Belal Muhammad
An often-overlooked piece to the UFC’s welterweight puzzle, Muhammad was relegated to undercard duty and took care of business like a true pro. The former Titan Fighting Championship titleholder pressed his advantages in the cardio department, alternating between body-head combinations and takedown-minded clinches. Muhammad struck for a takedown early in the third round, climbed to the back and secured position with a body triangle. He then hunted the rear-naked choke, as he transitioned between arms before prompting the tapout 1:55 into Round 3. Operating out of the famed Roufusport camp in Milwaukee, Muhammad has won seven of his 10 bouts inside the Octagon, losing only to Geoff Neal, Vicente Luque and Alan Jouban.
Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC (Getty Images)
