Khabib vs Dustin Poirier UFC 242 LIVE result: Nurmagomedov remains undisputed lightweight champion
Re-live all the action from UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi
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Khabib Nurmagomedov returned to the UFC on Saturday and made a major statement, defeating Dustin Poirier to retain his lightweight title at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi.
The undefeated Dagestani improved his record to 28-0 with the win, submitting 'The Diamond' via rear naked choke in the third round of the pair's five-round main event contest.
The fight and victory were the lightweight king's first in the 11 months since he overshadowed his win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in Las Vegas by scaling the cage and jumping into the crowd to fight members of the Irishman's entourage.
Re-live all the action from Abu Dhabi below:
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"Right now, I feel this hunger," Nurmagomedov said before this fight. "I feel this motivation, this fire, and that's why I stay focused. I want to stay busy. I want to stay hungry. I want to stay focused, humble. This is the key."
Nurmagomedov returns to face Poirier (21-5, 1 no-contest), who claimed an interim lightweight title belt during Nurmagomedov's suspension by beating Max Holloway.
Unlike the theatrics around his bout last year with McGregor, Nurmagomedov has a clear mutual respect with Poirier. Instead of a clash of personalities, this fight will be a contrast of style and strengths.
"My last fight, it was a little bit crazy and tough fight," Nurmagomedov said. "But now I have an opponent I want to show respect to, and it's all about respect. That's why we both show respect. But when the cage closes, it's going to be a very good, high-level matchup."
Lovely spinning heel kick from Barboza lands right to the gut of Felder!
That's what the fans wanted from this fight, creative striking.
But Felder is as tough as they come. He shakes it off.
Barboza surprisingly lands a takedown, and it may not have been a wise move... Felder lands some nasty elbows from the bottom and now Barboza is bloodied, too.
Roufus is calling for some 'tomahawk' elbows from Felder...
That was Barboza's first takedown since 2016.
As I said, it was a surprising move from the Brazilian.
The fighters are standing again now, and this contest is evening out after Barboza presumably took the first round.
He's landed more significant strikes, but Felder has landed more strikes overall.
This round is very hard to call.
Barboza's cornermen are telling him that he won the second round, along with the first.
They're warning him against letting the fight devolve into a brawl, though, saying that's exactly what Felder wants.
Felder's coaches are waving him in the direction of Barboza.
'The Irish Dragon' lands a few heavy shots in close, but he needs more.
Spinning back fist from Barboza to the delight of the crowd!
That's a move that Felder enjoys (when he's on the right end of it). He scored a KO with one against Danny Castillo in 2015.
Barboza lands a late takedown!
The buzzer sounds at the end of the round and that will have been a tough fight for the judges to score.
Barboza surely won the first round, but the second and third could have gone either way...
This writer reckons Barboza has done enough to win.
Felder def. Barboza by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 30-27)
Wow. That was certainly close and Barboza wore a truly shocked expression when the judges' scorecards were read out.
Felder grabs a narrow win to avenge his 2015 defeat to Barboza.
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