Islam Makhachev was all overDrew Dober like a rash Saturday in Las Vegas.- A protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev looks like another dominant Dagestan fighter.
- At
UFC 259, Makhachev won every minute of every round and submitted Dober in the third.
Islam Makhachev recorded an arm triangle submission against Drew Dober at the highly-anticipated UFC 259 event inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
A protege of the retired UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev is another dominant lightweight fighter from the Dagestan region in Russia.
And at the behind-closed-doors show Saturday, Makhachev showed again how dominant he can be as he won every minute of every round. He was so superior in the second one judge awarded him a 10-8 score, and made his American opponent tap in the third.
Makhachev established early authority as he constantly sought takedowns at the start of every round, and then, with the action on the mat, engineered submission attempts at every opportunity.
An arm-triangle choke from half guard was ultimately the submission that finished Dober, an
Now that winning streak is over as Makhachev punctuates his reputation as a 155-pound problem that few in the lightweight division seem able to solve for a minute, let alone an entire fight.
Makhachev's dominance was underlined by the data as he landed 102 strikes from 119 attempts for an 86% accuracy rate, succeeded with three of his four takedowns, and was in control for nine minutes and 26 seconds compared to Dober's 12 seconds.
See Dober survive an armbar submission here:
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 7, 2021
And watch the immediate aftermath of Makhachev's win here:
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 7, 2021
"I tried to finish him in the first round, but Dober is a very strong guy," said Makhachev after the fight in a statement sent to Insider.
"He has like crazy power, that's why I just tried to make him tired, make him work, and finish him in the third round."
Makhavev advanced his pro-MMA record to 19 wins (three knockouts, eight submissions, and eight decisions) against one loss, and said he wants to fight twice more in 2021.
Within a year, he wants to challenge for the lightweight title.
"My dream fight is Tony Ferguson," said Makhachev.
" I just want to make him retire. He talks too much. Khabib is retired, now he keeps pressuring him, for what? I'm here, I have a seven-fight win streak - make this happen."