In arguably the biggest lightweight championship match in the last five years, Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his belt against Conor McGregor.
The big fight was surrounded by controversy going in due to the real life heat between Nurmagomedov and McGregor. The reigning UFC Lightweight Champion came into the fight undefeated, with his recent wins being over Michael Johnson (via submission at UFC 205), Edson Barboza (via unanimous decision at UFC 219), and Al Iaquinta (via unanimous decision at UFC 223). His professional record was 26 wins and 0 losses going into his bout against “Notorious”.
The former two-division champion was coming off victories over Nate Diaz (via majority decision at UFC 202) and Eddie Alvarez (via TKO at UFC 205). McGregor orginally won the 155-pound belt from Alavrez; however, the 31-year-old was stripped of the title due to inactivity. McGregor’s professional record was 21 wins and 3 losses going into the championship fight.
Possibly remembered for the insane brawl that took place following the championship bout (which was edited out), the match-up that confirmed Nurmagomedov was indeed the real deal, as the lightweight champ managed to dominate a good portion of the fight. Check out the bout between the top lightweights below: