Hand triangle choke and 15 minutes of dominance: how Makhachev and Askarov won at UFC 259

For Islam Makhachev and Askar Askarov, the UFC 259 tournament could be called in many ways defining.

The first was ready to start fulfilling the plan for conquering lightweight, and the second was ready to come close to the status of the first contender in the lightest.

On the eve of the show, Askarov occupied the third place in the rating, and the victory over the second number in the person of Joseph Benavidez, if not guaranteed him a chance to fight for the title, then at least introduced him to the number of the main contenders for the trophy.

Considering the fact that among the top 5 only he could boast of a winning streak, this was more than logical.

However, these chances decreased slightly following the weigh-in.

Askarov was the only one of 30 fighters who could not meet the category limit.

True, the advantage turned out to be small - only 0.45 kilograms, which did not lead to serious consequences.

The fight was neither canceled, nor transferred to the intermediate weight.

The Russian got off with the deprivation of a fifth of the fee, which he was obliged to transfer to Benavidez.

Of course, in the fight, such an advantage could not help Askarov in any way.

However, even without the advantage in mass, it looked pretty good.

To the surprise of many, the Russian did not immediately force the transfer to canvas, but decided to arrange an exchange in the stand.

Benavidez was more active - he threw blows more often, trying to keep the enemy at a distance, but in terms of efficiency he was noticeably inferior.

Askar hit a hook on counterattacks very well several times, made a series of front kicks to the body, and in the end he put Joseph on the floor with a bright throw.

The American tried to get up, almost missed a rear naked choke, but was saved by a gong.

The lost ending of the first round provoked Benavidez to move to even more active actions.

In the opening of the second, he rushed forward, as it seemed, he hit several times well, but ran into a tough counterattack.

Two right hooks hit right in the head and almost ended in a knockdown, and a deep cut opened on Joseph's left cheek.

The Russian could try to develop the advantage in the standing position, but decided to turn to his strongest side again.

He instantly "tied" the American in a clinch, and then transferred him to the ground.

As a result, Askar controlled his counterpart for 4 minutes 6 seconds and practically guaranteed himself a victory.

On the eve of the third corner, Joseph asked his ward to try to save the fight, and his opponent was advised to work confidently and spend the last five minutes with a cool head.

Askar managed to implement the plan.

He calmly worked in a standing position, delivered a few more good punches and consolidated the advantage.

Hardly anyone was surprised that all three judges sided with him, and one of them gave him the victory with a total score of 30:26.

Askarov kept a zero in the “defeats” column and won the third fight in a row under the auspices of the UFC, thanks to which he made an application for the status of the first challenger.

In order to certainly attract the attention of the leadership, Askar went to the net and, with a characteristic movement, depicted a belt at his waist, thereby hinting that he was ready for the battle for the trophy.

In terms of level, Makhachev's rival, although not comparable to the long-term leader of the lightest division, Benavidez, also posed a serious danger.

Even if Drew Dober was not in the elite of the category, he was a promising fighter for a long time, and in the last two years he finally gained stability.

Prior to that, he alternated victories with defeats, and he was inferior mainly to painful ones.

In the second round, Beneil Dariusz and Olivier Aubin-Mercier forced him to knock, and it took Efrain Escudero only 54 seconds to catch the American on the guillotine.

At first glance, all this made Dober an extremely convenient opponent for Makhachev.

Khabib Nurmagomedov's teammate, by definition, cannot be bad in wrestling, which Islam fully confirmed.

He averaged 3.4 takedowns in 15 minutes, with 68% of his attempts being successful.

Given that Drew is extremely unimportant in defending himself from passes to his legs (58%), he had practically no chance of avoiding being transferred to the ground.

As a result, it took Makhachev only 58 seconds to put the enemy on the ground for the first time.

He immediately ended up in half a guard, later managed to get into a full mount and work with lateral control.

Most of the time, the Russian acted more than calmly, gradually working on the opponent's head and improving the position, and in the end he almost secured an early victory.

In a matter of seconds, he managed to catch Dober on the lever of the elbow.

The American was on the verge of defeat, but miraculously managed to endure.

The next two rounds took place in a similar vein.

In each of them Makhachev took a takedown and did not allow Dober to get to his feet.

Drew sometimes tried to answer with his elbows, but he could not create serious problems.

The last attempt to save the fight came in the middle of the third segment.

The American tried to lead the kimura, but did not succeed and ended up in the hand triangle.

Islam has won the seventh consecutive victory and the first since September 2019, making a bid to enter the top 10 lightweight division.

“It’s not my fault that I’ve been gone for so long. You know, 2020 turned out to be crazy. Several battles have been canceled for me. So you haven't seen me for a long time ... I already deserved a top-5 opponent several years ago. I will be ready to fight anyone, ”Makhachev said.