On Saturday night, Islam Makhachev further cemented his name in the UFC history books with a win over Ian Machado Garry that made it 17 straight wins, the longest win-streak in the company’s history.

Prior to the bout, Makhachev was tied on 16 straight wins with fellow UFC legend and former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. However, the Brazilian’s streak was ended when he was knocked out in round two by Chris Weidman during the main event of UFC 162.

Since Makhachev’s record-breaking bout, he has revealed to the press what his longtime friend and UFC legend, Khabib Nurmagomedov, told him as they prepared in his corner for the final round of the title fight.

Islam Makhachev Defeats Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330

Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Heading into the final round, many people had the bout tied at two rounds a piece, with Makhachev taking the opening two and Garry taking the following two. However, it was later revealed that two of the judges had awarded round four to the champion, despite the overwhelming public opinion that it was a Garry round.

The pressure was building for Makhachev as his opponent was building all the confidence thanks to his incredible takedown defence in rounds two and three, along with his magnificent submission defence in rounds one and four.

Garry had spent almost the entirety of round one against the cage after he failed to defend his opponent’s first takedown attempt. After that, Makhachev wasn’t able to find much success, and it was Garry whose confidence on his feet was growing as his hands dropped, and he began to let more shots go.

However, despite Garry’s success, the stat sheet tells us that Makhachev was able to pin the challenger down for 12-and-a-half of the 25 total minutes they shared in the Octagon, which included seven successful takedown attempts.

What Khabib Told Makhachev Before Round Five

When asked what Khabib Nurmagomedov told him in his corner, Makhachev said: “I feel I won three rounds before the last round, you know, but Khabib in our corner said ‘you have to win the last round.'”

Makhachev also gave an insight into his game plan as he said: “In the last round, I felt I could take him down and do something more because the third and fourth round weren’t very tough, and I had the power to go and show a good performance at the end of the fight.”

The champion was able to control the majority of the final round as he was able to claim the back of Garry with two minutes and 40 seconds left of the round after attempting multiple takedowns in the two minutes prior.

Makhachev spent the remainder of the round with his arms locked around his opponent, who was completely unable to break the Dagestani’s grip, and secured himself the unanimous victory, which was scored 49-46 by two judges and 48-47 by one judge.

As a result, Makhachev extended his win streak to 17 fights and retained the UFC welterweight championship, despite a valiant effort from Ian Machado Garry.

Anthony Gordon made his Barcelona debut on Sunday afternoon as he starred in his side’s victory against FC Basel.

The Catalan giants cruised to a comfortable victory at St. Jakob-Park. Karim Adeyemi, who signed for the club from Borussia Dortmund this summer, gave the away side the lead in the 34th minute, only for Jean Doucoure to restore parity shortly after.

Hamza Abdelkarim gave the away side the lead once more shortly after half-time, before Lamine Yamal gave them breathing space with nine minutes remaining via the penalty spot.

Kazeem Olaigbe made no mistake when Basel were given a penalty of their own shortly after to set up an interesting finish, but their hopes of a comeback were extinguished as Jesse Bisiwu netted a late brace to ensure Barcelona ran out 5-2 winners.

Barcelona fans Make Feelings Clear About Anthony Gordon

REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Gordon, who signed for Barcelona in a £69.3 million move from Newcastle United this summer, was named in his side’s starting lineup for the first time against the 21-time Swiss champions.

The 25-year-old, who is one of the highest-paid British footballers plying their trade abroad, played the opening 45 minutes before making way for Abdelkarim at half-time.

SofaScore gave him a rating of 6.5/10 for his performance. He was successful with 28 of his 29 passes, one of which was classed as a ‘key pass’.

He found a teammate with one of his two crosses, did not complete his only attempted dribble, lost possession four times and won one of his three ground duels.

A video of Gordon’s performance has gone viral online and, despite not being at his very best, Barcelona fans are very excited about the Englishman and have high hopes for him.

One fan wrote: ‘Trust me… Gordon will be the reason we win two Champions Leagues before the end of this decade,’ while another commented: ‘Could have easily gotten two goals from his play. He is direct and fits in perfectly with the sort of energy Flick wants, the depth, the varying attacking options we now have.’

A third said: ‘Top signing. Hoping he keeps up with this level’, while a fourth stated: ‘He was incredible today, good decision-making. They just couldn’t stop him. He’ll be amazing for us. I just know it.’

A fifth wrote: ‘All it took for Gordon was 45 mins in a friendly match to prove he isn’t just a roadrunner. Heck, the way he was playing, you’d think this is 100th match for Barca, not 1st.’

Hansi Flick Pleased With Barcelona’s Performance

via Reuters

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was complimentary of Basel after the match, saying they gave his side a ‘good test’.

He said, per Goal: “It was a good test for us; Basel played well. It wasn’t easy playing against them. Perhaps in the first half we didn’t play as quickly as we’d have liked, either in terms of positioning or off the ball. That’s what we need to improve on. We’ve got potential, and I’m pleased with the test.”

He added: “The most important thing is how we train, the quality and the intensity, and that’s very good. I can see the standard of the team and that’s what matters most. We’ll analyse this match and also the training sessions. And we’ve got a match this week, so we’ll see.”

Barcelona return to action on Wednesday when they take on Egyptian side Al Ahly. They begin their La Liga campaign on Sunday evening when they travel to Elche.

UFC 330 once again delivered bouts that have split the MMA fanbase, with the main event reigniting the flame of one of the sport’s most iconic rivalries, Dagestan against Ireland. The rivalry will always have eyes in the sport of MMA, and with more eyes comes more money as the salaries have been revealed.

The UFC were not afraid to use comparisons to the famous UFC 229 main event between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov to hype this fight, using promo clips and voice-lines relating to the famous rivalry to build this one even more. However, this one was much less heated as Ian Machado Garry remained entirely respectful during the build-up.

Islam Makhachev Defeats Ian Machado Garry

Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Heading into the fight, Garry was confident about his takedown defence, leading him to a career-defining victory. However, just one minute into round one, the Irishman’s takedown defence let him down as Islam Makhachev landed a head-kick and followed up swiftly with a single-leg takedown that Garry couldn’t stop.

The rest of the round that followed was spent with Makhachev gripping the body of Garry, with the Irishman unable to separate the hands of the champion.

Garry began to find some success on his feet in round two. However, one lapse in concentration allowed Makhachev to land a brutal head kick that knocked the challenger down. The champion was able to pounce and took control on the ground for the remainder of round two.

Round three was comfortably the first round that went Garry’s way. The Irishman found immense success on his feet, landing a variety of shots ranging from oblique kicks to clean and swift jabs.

Round four was relatively uneventful, with a mix of good work from Garry on his feet combined with great takedown defence, which left it all down to the fifth round.

The challenger was finding success early on in the final round. However, his takedown defence abandoned him, and he gave up his back halfway into the round. Makhachev spent the rest of the round on his opponent’s back and was able to retain his title with a unanimous victory.

Mackenzie Dern Beat Gillian Robertson

The co-main event included two of the very best in the women’s strawweight division and Mackenzie Dern defended her title against Gillian Robertson.

Dern delivered an MMA masterclass in round one, displaying incredible striking ability early on, followed by some world-class grappling to close the round which almost resulted in a submission victory. However, it wasn’t locked in clean.

Rounds two and three followed in similar fashion, as did the first few minutes of round four. However, late in that round, Robertson began to find a bit of control on top of the champion.

Robertson then found a takedown early on in round five, but Dern was able to hold on to claim a dominant victory (49-46 x2, 48-47 x1) and retain her strawweight title.

UFC 330 Fighter Earnings & Pay

Both main-event fighters certainly earned their salaries from the bout, going the distance and leaving it all in the Octagon. It was the champion, Makhachev, who left with the most in his pocket, as well as the longest winning streak in UFC history.

Makhachev was paid an estimated $4,140,000 for his bout against Garry, with the Irishman receiving over two million dollars less at an estimated total of $2,061,000.

The next two biggest salaries were for the two in the co-main, as Dern pocketed an estimated $1,640,000 and her opponent left with $875,000 for their championship bout.

The figures are staggering in comparison to what Rafael Tobias received. The Brazilian pocketed just $24,000 for his bout against Lucas Fernando earlier in the night, 172.5 times less than what Makhachev received.