"Makhachev made light of stepping up a weight class after relinquishing the lightweight crown to chase a new challenge, utterly dominating his Australian opponent for 25 minutes with his smothering grappling to claim his 16th UFC victory in a row on Saturday night. The 34-year-old softened up his 29-year-old adversary with calf kicks before launching a relentless wrestling attack and Della Maddalena had no answer, getting stuck on the mat dealing with submission threats under tremendous pressure for long periods."
"This is my plan. It's not a secret, all my opponents know this, and nobody can stop it, Makhachev said before calling for his first title defence to be at the proposed event on the White House lawn in 2026. All three judges scored the contest 50-45 as Makhachev became the 11th fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two different weight classes. Della Maddalena who ended an 18-fight career win streak, that featured 14 finishes walked out of the cage without conducting the traditional post-fight interview and lost his first title defence since he beat Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision in May to wrest away the welterweight championship."
"In the co-headliner, Zhang Weili's dream of joining the elite group of double-champions came up short as the wily Shevchenko out-pointed her in another dominant performance to retain the flyweight crown. Shevchenko (26-4-1) won her 11th overall title fight once she swept the scorecards 50-45 against Zhang. Shevchenko displayed her full array of skills, sniping at her Chinese opponent and hurting her with punishing kicks to the body, and taking"
Islam Makhachev relinquished the lightweight crown, moved up to welterweight, and dominated Jack Della Maddalena for 25 minutes with smothering grappling and calf kicks. All three judges scored the contest 50-45, giving Makhachev his 16th straight UFC victory and making him the 11th fighter to hold titles in two divisions. Makhachev called for his first title defence to be held on the proposed White House lawn in 2026. Della Maddalena's 18-fight win streak ended and he left the cage without a post-fight interview. Valentina Shevchenko retained the flyweight title, sweeping Zhang Weili 50-45 with punishing body kicks and tactical striking.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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