Islam Makhachev Retains Lightweight Title, Throttles Renato Moicano Atop UFC 311

Islam Makhachev exploits the slightest of openings.

The American Kickboxing Academy star kept his stranglehold on the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title, as he dismissed Renato “Money” Moicano with a brabo choke in the first round of their UFC 311 headliner on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. A short-notice fill-in for Arman Tsarukyan, Moicano (20-6-1, 12-6 UFC) checked out 4:05 into Round 1.

Makhachev (27-1, 16-1 UFC) completed a takedown midway through the first round, settled in half guard and went to work. Moicano initiated a scramble, only to wander into the champion’s clutches. Makhachev rolled into position for the choke, tightened his squeeze and elicited the tapout. With that, he put his 15th straight victory in the books, leaving him one shy of Anderson Silva’s all-time UFC record.

Meanwhile, Merab Dvalishvili wore down the previously unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov with his breakneck pace and retained his undisputed bantamweight championship with a unanimous decision in their five-round co-main event. Dvalishvili (19-4, 12-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 marks from the cageside judges.

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Nurmagomedov (18-1, 6-1 UFC) established his superiority in the standup exchanges early on with sharp one-twos, clean counters and heavy body kicks; and through two rounds, everything appeared to be trending in his direction. However, Dvalishvili kept his foot on the gas, bullied his challenger onto the back foot, threatened with takedowns and fired away with winging power punches from both hands. Nurmagomedov showed signs of fatigue at the end of Round 3 and deteriorated further as time went on. Dvalishvili wobbled him with a one-two in the fourth round and dumped him to the canvas on multiple occasions in the fifth. Nurmagomedov seemed resigned to his fate as he returned to his corner once their 25 minutes were up.

Dvalishvili, 34, has recorded 12 consecutive wins.

Further down the card, Jetsaam Gym cornerstone Jiri Prochazka took out Jamahal Hill with punches in the third round of their thrilling light heavyweight showcase. Prochazka (31-5-1, 5-2 UFC) drew the curtain 3:01 into Round 3, winning for the 15th time in 17 assignments.

Hill (12-3, 6-3 UFC) fought fire with fire against the Czech berserker. Prochazka felled him with a straight left in the first round, withstood significant punishment in the middle stanza—“Sweet Dreams” hurt him to the body on more than one occasion—and turned up the heat in the third. He floored Hill with a clubbing right hook, swarmed with follow-up shots and then briefly reset. A right uppercut from Prochazka resulted in another knockdown and set the stage for the stoppage. Hill shelled up on all fours, perhaps signaling he had endured enough. Prochazka let the punches flow from there, prompting the stoppage.

The 32-year-old Prochazka has delivered 29 of his 31 professional victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

Elsewhere, Galpao da Luta product Jailton Almeida disposed of onetime World Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Serghei Spivac with punches in the first round of their back-and-forth heavyweight attraction. Almeida (22-3, 8-1 UFC) drew the curtain 4:53 into Round 1.

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Spivac (17-5, 8-5 UFC) executed a takedown at the start, setting off a series of reversals and sweeps between the two men. Once they returned to a standing position, Almeida had the Moldovan reeling with a ringing right uppercut. Spivac backpedaled to the fence but found no refuge there. Almeida cut loose with punches, dumped him to the canvas and climbed immediately to full mount. Spivac turned away from contact, only to be flattened out by the Brazilian. From there, Almeida hammered away with punches to the side of the head until referee Jason Herzog had seen enough.

Almeida, 33, has rattled off 17 wins across his past 18 outings.

Finally, former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder put away Kevin Holland with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their middleweight appetizer. Holland (16-13, 13-10 UFC) raised the white flag 3:31 into Round 1, losing for the fourth time in five appearances.

De Ridder (19-2, 2-0 UFC) delivered a takedown inside the first 10 seconds, shed a triangle choke from his counterpart and unloaded with ground-and-pound. A slashing elbow strike snuck through Holland’s defenses and opened a cut above his left eye. De Ridder eventually advanced to the back, secured his position with a body triangle and cinched the fight-ending choke.

It was the 11th first-round finish of de Ridder’s career.

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