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UFC 294: Makhachev v Volkanovski 2 — Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Last night (Sat., Oct. 21, 2023), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Even after suffering a pair of massive last-second injuries, the card remained one of the most intriguing events of the year. Exciting and important bouts filled the card, and the undercard had a great quantity of talented prospects too. Sadly, the whole affair turned out to be underwhelming as a whole, in large part due to bad officiating.

Let’s take a look at UFC 294’s standout performances and techniques:

The Southpaw Classic

Islam Makhachev just won a UFC title fight without landing a single takedown.

Right away, Makhachev implemented his range advantage against the shorter man. He punished Volkanovski with hard left kicks to the inner thigh and liver, and when the two did tie up in the clinch, he made Volkanovski’s life hell with the double-collar tie. Volkanovski was immediately put in an impossible position: he had to outlast a bigger, stronger fighter, but he had to do so with non-existent preparation. Before he had any chance to pull off the impossible, Makhachev took his left kick upstairs and across the temple. The Australian’s knees buckled, and Makhachev swarmed him to force the finish.

It’s unfortunate that this rivalry ended in such bizarre circumstance, but at least Makhachev ended it with an exclamation point!

Middleweight Khamzat Has A Lot To Prove

I don’t think I’m alone in being underwhelmed by Khamzat Chimaev’s performance.

The first round was the Chechen wrecking ball that we all expect. He bowled Kamaru Usman over with an early takedown, and Usman just couldn’t shake him off. He dominated the first frame, holding Usman’s back the entire round and scoring some decently hard chipping shots in the process.

A justified 10-8 in my book.

Immediately afterward, the pace slowed significantly. That’s concerning, because he had exactly the round that he wanted! He didn’t score the finish, but otherwise, Chimaev did everything he wanted and still seriously fatigued in the process. Consequently, Usman was able to find success on his feet in the second and third, as well as deny a good number of takedowns.

This wasn’t Usman at the peak of his power. He stepped up a weight class on 10 days notice! If Chimaev is struggling with his gas tank holding Usman down, then I would be concerned at his ability to contain Paulo Costa — a much, much bigger man — without significantly slowing down.

Khamzat is obviously still a hugely impressive athlete with incredible potential, but some cracks showed last night.

More Weird S—t For Magomed

A few days prior to UFC 294, I wrote my usual preview for Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker, noting that Ankalaev probably should be champion by now, but he keeps getting waylaid by strange happenings. That pattern continued last night, as a genuinely interesting contest was disrupted by a blatantly illegal knee.

This time, Ankalaev has no one to blame but himself. Walker was in the process of standing up along the fence, but his knee was clearly down. This wasn’t an Elliott vs. Mokaev gaming-the-system scenario. Ankalaev blasted Walker’s chin with an illegal knee, and the doctor declared Walker unfit to continue.

The subsequent chaos in the cage got a bit ugly, but I would expect this one to be rebooked in the near future … delaying Magomedov further from the title picture!

Another Combat Sambo Champion …

Ikram Aliskerov might just be a problem.

He scored his second UFC win via knockout last night, and it all started with a jab! Warlley Alves was doing decent work on the outside with his rangy kicks, but just about 90 seconds into the first round, a jab wobbled his knees badly. Aliskerov followed up with a brilliant flurry featuring a jump knee and massive combination, flooring the Brazilian for good.

The Middleweight is now 14-1, and his sole loss came to Khamzat on the regional scene. He’s stopped most opponents via submission or knockout, and the 30 year old definitely appears to be ready for a ranked opponent next.

Bantamweight’s Best Guillotine

Said Nurmagomedov did it again.

Muin Gafurov tried to press and wrestle him early, and Nurmagomedov went straight to the guillotine, which has really become his signature technique. He fished the choke arm deep right away, and Gafurov made a critical mistake in failing to address the strangle immediately. His only chance was to completely abandon the takedown and fight hands, but instead, he dropped deeper into his shot.

Nurmagomedov completed the rear naked choke grip to wrap up the ninja choke once and for all. Once that grip is locked, it’s OVER, and Gafurov was asleep in seconds.

F—king Ouch

As everyone expected, Victor Henry vs. Javid Basharat was proving to be a highly competitive and technical contest until a low kick destroyed Henry’s genitals and rendered him unable to fight. More specifically, the low blow rendered him unable to stand, crawling around on the floor in obvious agony.

A small handful of morons on the internet are convinced that the 30-fight professional who was doing just fine was faking it — get your head and your ears examined, that’s what a cup check sounds like.

Cheaters Do Win!

Muhammad Naimov vs. Nathaniel Wood was a really fun fight that pissed a lot of people off.

The two traded knockdowns and top position throughout three rounds, and ultimately, Naimov was awarded the close decision win. Along the way, however, he racked up an impressive array of fouls. Naimov landed a couple hard shots to the cup, grabbed the fence, and helped prevent a late finish from Wood by clinging to his glove like a dog to a bone. Subsequently, Wood’s excellent Featherweight win streak comes to an end — unfortunate.

A couple fights later, Sedriques Dumas managed to win a close decision despite having his hair very obviously pulled a half-dozen times by Abu Azaitar. No points were taken! Rules are a suggestion or perhaps an illusion!

Additional Thoughts

Muhammad Mokaev defeats Tim Elliott via third-round arm triangle choke (HIGHLIGHTS): Mokaev is really good. It’s hard to deny. His wrestling is just spectacular, as evidenced by his big slams and perfect duck-out last night. At the same time, I didn’t walk away from this performance overly impressed. He still doesn’t throw many strikes — on the feet or in top control — and any time Elliott pressed forward, his response was to take a desperation shot. Elliott’s best offense of the night were his knees from the front headlock, and those were of difficult-to-determine legality. At 23, Mokaev is obviously an excellent blue chip prospect still, but unless he develops his kickboxing and striking comfort soon, someone in the Top 10 is going to hurt him.
Mike Breedan defeats Anshul Jubli via third-round knockout: This was an odd little “Prelims” kickboxing battle. For the most part, Jubli beat his opponent’s butt, seemingly en route to handing him his fourth straight UFC defeat. In a truly strange moment, Breedan started yelling and barking between the second and third round to hype himself up, and … it seemed to demoralize Jubli? He stopped throwing offense, let Breedan back into the fight, and got knocked out!

For complete UFC 294: “Makhachev vs. Volkanovski 2” results and play-by-play, click HERE!