UFC 330: Makhachev vs. Garry Live Updates, Results and Highlights

There is no better fighter on earth today than Islam Makhachev.

Ian Machado Garry was the challenger most fight fans thought he would be. He pushed Makhachev to the limit, and arguably won a round or two of their five-round fight. In the end, though, the champion retained his title with an inarguable decision win.

In victory, Makhachev is now a staggering 29-1. More importantly, he has now defended titles in two UFC weight classes. He will always have naysayers, but at this point, his accolades are irrefutable.

He is, without question, one of the best fighters ever.

Islam Makhachev (28-1), a protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov, and one of a small group of two-division champs in UFC history, fights next.

The Russian will defend his welterweight belt against Ian Machado Garry. (17-1)

Garry, like anyone matched up with Makhachev, is a big underdog, but seems to have the skills to win this fight. He's tall, he's rangy, he's skillful, and he's durable. He's also riding wins over Carlos Prates and Belal Muhammad.

Let's see if that's enough to unseat one of the best fighters ever in Makhachev, who has not fought since he won the belt from Jack Della Maddalena last year.

Mackenzie Dern proved herself as an elite UFC champion on Saturday, dominating her challenger Gillian Robertson en route route a unanimous decision win. 

Dern, an extremely decorated BJJ champion, looked a level above Robertson for the duration of their fight. She controlled the vast majority of the action, even in the rare moments she was on her back.

In victory, Dern is 17-5 overall. She will continue to have to answer questions about the return of former champ Zhang Weili, who has all the skills to dominate her. For now, though, she is the queen of her division.

In defeat, Robertson experiences her first loss in five fights. Canada will have to wait for its next Georges St-Pierre.

Mike Malott, you're up. 

We've reached the last two fights of the night, both of which are title fights.

First up, BJJ legend Mackenzie Dern will attempt the first defense of her strawweight title opposite Canada's Gillian Robertson. On paper, Dern is a more decorated grappler than almost anybody in her division, and capable of winning this easily on the mat, but Robertson has a track record of upsets and finishes.

Dern's status as a big favorite is a little questionable. She has a very hard challenge to deal with here.

We should be underway in minutes.

It's hard to believe Jalin Turner considered retiring recently. He is still so damn good.

Turner made things look utterly effortless is his UFC 330 main card scrap with Kaue Fernandes. After missing on a spinning kick, he put his opponent away with a vicious punch.

In victory, Turner is now 17-9, and on a two-fight streak. This guy is still an elite lightweight. He should be matched up with someone in the top-15 from here.

Fernandes, who was arguably rushed into this spot, is now 11-3.

Our next fight is a lightweight contest between Jalin Turner (15-9) and Kaue Fernandes (11-2).

Turner briefly retired a couple of years ago, but recently returned to action with a dominant win over Edson Barboza. It's good to have him back, because he is still clearly a very high level lightweight.

His opponent tonight will be Kaue Fernandes. The Brazilian has never had a fight this big, but has won three straight, and will look to completely change his fortune in victory.

Let's get to it. After this, there is nothing but title fights left.

Ahead of UFC 330, there was some question about whether Dustin Stoltzfus deserved his place on the roster, after losses in seven of his first 10 UFC fights. In his main card scrap with Mansur Abdul-Malik, he proved he belongs, finishing things with a rear-naked choke in round 2.

With the win, which clocks as a big upset, Stoltzfus rebounds from losses to Nursulton Ruziboev and Kelvin Gastelum and improves to 19-8. It's doubtful he'll ever become a serious contender at 185 pounds, but he clearly has the chops to deal with lower level opps.

In defeat, Abdul-Malik is now 9-2-1 overall. This was a big setback for him, but he has plenty of time to rebound.

Up next, we've got a middleweight fight between Mansur Abdul-Malik (9-1-1) and Dustin Stoltzfus (16-8).

There have been some justifiable questions about how either of these fighters ended up on tonight's main card, but that's irrelevant at this point.

Abdul-Malik will be looking to prove he belongs after a loss to former kickboxer Yousri Belgaroui. Stoltzfus has won just three fights in 10 UFC appearances, and after a pair of losses to Nursulton Ruziboev and Kelvin Gastelum, is probably fighting for his job.

Both fighters are in the cage, so let's get to it.

As expected, Edson Barboza is calling it a career.

"I give my best every single day," he said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. "Every single fight I brought it. I'm so thankful, man. Thank you guys."

This guy fought Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson, and many others, and beat some of the best fighters in both divisions he fought in, including Anthony Pettis and Beneil Dariush.

What a legend. Happy retirement, Mr. Barboza.

Well, that wasn't pretty.

Edson Barboza, every bit an MMA legend, looked his age at UFC 330. The 40-year-old Brazilian was absolutely dominated by Esteban Ribovics en route to a second-round stoppage loss.

In victory, Argentina's Ribovics is back on track after a tough loss to Yaroslav Amosov. He's now 16-3 overall.

The loss left Barboza with a 24-15 overall record, as well as a bloody shin and a swollen face. While he seems intent on retiring, his legacy is set in stone. At his best, he was one of the most violent and talented strikers in UFC history.

Long live "Junior" Barboza.

We'll kick off the main card with a lightweight clash between Brazil's Edson Barboza (24-14) and Argentina's Esteban Ribovics (15-3).

In his prime, Barboza was absolutely elite, but today, is riding a knockout loss to Jalin Turner, and is seemingly nearing the end of an amazing career in the UFC.

Ribovics is fresh off a submission loss to Mateusz Gamrot in a fight that was frankly an unjustified step up in competition. Still, he should have the edge here on the basis of youth and durability alone.

Here we go.

It wasn't exactly pretty, but Chidi Njokuani ultimately sprung the upset on Joel Alvarez, winning their welterweight fight by unanimous decision.

The victory might be the best of Njokuani's UFC career to date, and likely saved his job with the promotion. He's now 26-12 overall.

Alvarez, meanwhile, is riding two straight losses. After 9-2 start to his UFC career, that's a little worrying. Then again, he took this fight on short notice to replace Geoff Neal, so it's fairly excusable. He's now 23-5 overall.

The final bout of the prelims is up next. This one will be contested at welterweight, with Joel Alvarez taking on Chidi Njokuani.

Alvarez (23-4), from Spain, will be looking to rebound from a submission loss to former Bellator champ and top UFC contender Yaroslav Amosov.

Njokuani, who spent several years competing in Bellator before jumping to the UFC, has lost two straight, opposite Jake Matthews and Carlos Leal. He'll enter this fight with a 25-12 record.

Charles Johnson had to work hard for his win over Eduardo Chapolin, but finally pulled it off in round three, when he hurt his opponent with a kick to the body, then finished him off with a rare Scottish twister.

We've been seeing a ton of this submission in MMA recently, as unusual as it is.

In victory, Johnson is back on track after a tough loss to Asu Almabayev in June. He's now 20-9 overall, and still a member of the top-15 at flyweight.

Chapolin, meanwhile, falls to 15-3. He'll have to wait for his first UFC win.

MMA referees are notorious for failing to penalize fouls, but Jason Herzog is bucking the trend. In round one, he took a point from Chapolin, after the Brazilian landed an inadvertent eye poke and illegal knee back to back.

Chapolin is now at a big disadvantage heading into round two.

Flyweight contender Charles Johnson (19-9) was originally set to take on Jose Ochoa on Saturday's main card. When Ochoa was forced out of the fight with an injury, Johnson was matched up with Octagon newcomer Eduardo Chapolin (15-2) and relegated to the undercard.

This fight will mark Johnson's opportunity to rebound from a tough stoppage loss to Asu Almabayev last time out. As the commentators will surely remind us, he holds KO wins over reigning champ Joshua Van and top contender Lone'er Kavanagh, so definitely don't sleep on him.

Chapolin earned his UFC contract with a win over An Tuan Ho on Dana White's Contender Series last year.

Let's get to it.

Donte Johnson didn't need much time to deal with Eric McConico in their undercard middleweight clash. Mid-way through the first round, he absolutely floored his opponent with a long-range left hand. The ref was charing in to end the contest before McConico had even settled on the ground.

Absolutely brutal stuff.

With the win, Johnson is now 9-0 overall, and 3-0 in the UFC. He is definitely a fighter to watch at 185 pounds.

McConico, meanwhile, is 11-5-1 overall, and 2-3 in the Octagon. His future unfortunately looks a little less bright.

We told you Tresean Gore lost a bunch of his teeth in his decision victory over Vicente Luque. If you thought that was an exaggeration, check out the clip above—unless you're squeamish.

They were little picking his pearly whites up off the Octagon floor.

How on earth did this guy get through his post-fight interview without doubling over in agony? MMA fighters really are a different breed...

It's time for another middleweight fight, as Donte Johnson (8-0) takes on Eric McConico (11-4-1).

Johnson is just 5'8", which is very short for a middleweight, but has won two UFC fights since earning a contract on Dana Whites Contender Series.

McConico has been a little less consistent, going 2-2 in his first four UFC bouts. He's riding a win over BJJ talent Rodolfo Vieira.

The action should begin in minutes.

Tresean Gore and Vicente Luque had a very close fight in Philadelphia, with some fun exchanges on the feet and on the mat. In the end, though, the judges scored the fight for Gore.

In victory, Gore is now on a two-fight win streak. He's now 7-4 as a pro, and really seems to be hitting his stride. Unfortunately, Luque seems to have knocked out nearly all of his bottom front teeth out. Seriously. And he still did a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

In defeat, Luque experiences his first loss as a middleweight. He's now 24-13-1, and seems to be nearing the end of his long career in the Octagon.

Up next, we've got a very interesting middleweight fight between Vicente Luque (24-2-1) and Tresean Gore (6-4).

Luque spent many years as a contender at welterweight, but has opted to close out his career as a middleweight, and is off to a good start in his new division, having debuted with a submission win over Kelvin Gastelum. Gore has been hot and cold in the Octagon, but recently showed signs of reaching his full potential by submitting Azamat Bekoev.

The action will be underway shortly.

What grade would Joe Rogan give Lucas Fernando's UFC debut?

An A+.

The long-time UFC commentator was blown away by the Brazilian light heavyweight on the UFC 330 prelims, and it's easy to understand why. Fernando showed incredible striking skill against Rafael Tobias, dominating his opponent through rounds one and two, and finishing him with a sizzling knee to the body in the third.

The victory marks a successful UFC debut for Fernando, and improves his record to 14-3. While he's still very inexperienced against high-level opposition, he certainly seems to have a bright future in the Octagon.

Up next, we've got an all-Brazil light heavyweight scrap between Rafael Tobias (14-2) and Lucas Fernando (13-3).

Tobias, a Contender Series grad, will be looking to rebound from a loss to Diyar Nurgozhay in his UFC debut. Fernando, an LFA veteran, will be making his UFC debut.

Soon after Jeremiah Wells' epic comeback win in the UFC 330 opener, Neil Magny picked up an awesome come-from-behind win of his own.

The extremely experienced welterweight veteran spent much of his battle with Ramiz Brahimaj getting out-grappled. In round two, however, he reversed position on his fatiguing foe, and poured on the ground-and-pound until the referee intervened.

This is Magny's 25th win in the UFC. He's now 32-14 overall, and back in the win column after his tough loss to Yaroslav Amosov last year.

"It feels amazing," he said. "I know what I'm capable of... I just keep showing up to get the work done.

Up next, we've got the return of welterweight veteran Neil Magny (31-14), one of the most experienced fighters on the entire UFC roster. He will be taking on Ramiz Brahimaj (13-6).

Magny will be looking to rebound from a submission loss to surging contender Yaroslav Amosov last year, but that was proceeded by back-to-back wins over Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Jake Matthews. Brahimaj is also riding a loss, having recently come up short against Punahele Soriano.

Let's get to it.

Jeremiah Wells scored an absolutely stunning comeback against Myktybek Orolbai in the UFC 330 opener.

Wells actually started the fight strong, hurting his Kyrgyzstani opponent on the feet. However, he then spent nearly all of rounds one and two getting out-grappled. In other words, he clearly needed a finish in round 3 if he wanted to win.

And he got it.

With the fight slipping away from him, the 39-year-old leapt onto a guillotine choke and put his opponent to sleep.

It was definitely a bummer from the surprising number of Kyrgyz fans in the building, but a nice moment for the other fans in attendance, as Wells is one of the only Philly-based fighters on tonight's card.

He's now on a two-fight streak, but says he's considering retirement after his amazing win on home soil.

If that's it for him, that's one heck of a way to end it.

The UFC 330 prelims kick off in just a few minutes.

We'll start with an interesting welterweight scrap between Myktybek Orolbai and Jeremiah Wells.

Kyrgyzstan's Orolbai (16-2) is riding three straight wins, notably defeats of former middleweights Jack Hermansson and Chris Curtis. He's seemingly right on the cusp of the rankings, and is turning into a bit of a favorite among hardcore fans. Wells (13-4-1), meanwhile, is riding a win over Themba Gorimbo. He's proven himself as a solid talent, but at 39, is definitely running low on time.