UFC 223 results: Khabib Nurmagomedov dominates Al Iaquinta, wins UFC lightweight title

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Khabib Nurmagomedov is the new UFC lightweight champion, winning a one-sided unanimous decision over the incredibly tough Al Iaquinta.

After numerous changes to the UFC 223 main event, the lightweight title fight opponent for Khabib Nurmagomedov wound up being New York’s own Al Iaquinta on just a day’s notice. The upset bid by Iaquinta in front of his home fans in Brooklyn was ultimately stuffed out by Nurmagomedov, who won a lopsided decision by winning both the wrestling and striking exchanges. Iaquinta has to be commended for going the distance and having his own offensive moments, plus successful takedown defense in the middle portion of the contest, but Khabib was too much for him to handle, and the lightweight belt now reside with Nurmagomedov. His prolonged willingness to strike also provided a glimpse into what a fight with Conor McGregor may look like, and presumably many will see flaws in Khabib’s defense that McGregor can exploit.

Iaquinta put Khabib on the backfoot early, searching for a big punch. He then stuffed Khabib’s first takedown with ease. Unfortunately for Al, the second attempt was a single leg that put him on his back. Nurmagomedov went from half-guard to side control to back mount in a flash, but Iaquinta scrambled and got back to his feet, much to the delight of the crowd. His time in a vertical position would be short-lived, as Khabib dumped him on the mat again. Nurmagomedov threw some left hands to Iaquinta’s head, continuing to control him against the fence. Khabib kept up the punishment as he wore on Iaquinta with the wrestling ride. Loud “Khabib!” chants rang around the arena as the ground-and-pound continued. Iaquinta was back to his feet, and just as quickly dropped down. The punches rained down from the Russian as Iaquinta was in complete defensive mode. Iaquinta got back up to end the round, but the first frame was all Khabib.

There was noticeable swelling on Iaquinta’s left eye just before the start of round two. They kickboxed for a minute before Khabib dove on a single. Iaquinta escaped that attempt, but not the next shot, and back to the ground they went. More left hands for “The Eagle” against his short-notice opponent as the two approached the midway point of the round. Khabib continued to control Iaquinta and then took his back, with both hooks in, and in front of Matt Serra, Iaquinta’s coach. Khabib went for the rear-naked choke, then turned to full mount, then back to back mount and flattened Iaquinta out. Relentless ground and -pound landed for Khabib. Iaquinta tried to scramble but still had Khabib draped all over him. Iaquinta survived the round but was down two rounds by some distance.

Khabib jabbed Iaquinta in round three after Al reached for a right hand. It was a slow-paced start to the round, and Khabib was actually winning the striking exchanges with a beautiful jab. Iaquinta connected a couple of right hands, his best offense all fight, and that got the crowd excited. Iaquinta stuffed a low single and got the striking matchup he would’ve preferred heading into this. He was still having huge problems with Khabib’s jab, which bloodied his nose. Even on the feet, it was still Khabib’s advantage in terms of strike differential.

Nurmagomedov had a takedown stopped, but he did connect on a hard uppercut to begin the fourth round. The fight remained on the feet, and for the most part, Khabib landed the better strikes without it being something terribly impressive. Khabib got clipped with a couple of shots but Iaquinta needed a lot more than that, and he went for his own takedown, which was thwarted.

Needing a miracle finish, Iaquinta upped the urgency with his striking in hopes of getting that knockout. A nice uppercut got through for “Ragin Al.” Khabib continued to piece up Iaquinta with the jab, but he was vulnerable to more and more of Al’s power shots. Khabib then turned up the pressure and had Iaquinta in trouble on the feet, including a vicious flying knee before a powerful takedown. Iaquinta was leaking blood and Khabib would eventually take Al’s back. The rare-naked choke wouldn’t materialize, and Iaquinta incredibly went the distance despite not preparing for a five-rounder.

Official result: Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Al Iaquinta by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-43, 50-43) to become the UFC lightweight champion