The biggest UFC tournament in March was a must-see for any mixed martial arts fan for several reasons.
By far the most attention-grabbing duel was between two former American Top Team partners, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, who went from former roommates and close friends to bitter enemies ready to fight even before the show in a few years.
However, the list of expected fights did not end there, and Russian fighters took part in two of them at once.
Umar Nurmagomedov was ready to make a long-awaited return to the octagon after a 14-month downtime, and in the featherweight division, and Tagir Ulanbekov was ready to compete for getting into the top ten of the strongest flyweight category.
The first from Khabib Nurmagomedov's team to enter the cage was Ulanbekov, who had to pass the most difficult test of his career.
Until now, he has never met a fighter of the caliber of Tim Elliott - the most experienced American who had experience of confrontations with the strongest representatives of the flyweight division in the world.
True, in most of them he suffered defeats, as in the title fight with Demetrius Johnson.
In 2016, the black belt in jiu-jitsu won The Ultimate Fighter tournament and got the right to fight for the UFC title in the category up to 56.7 kg, but could not create a sensation.
So far, Ulanbekov has already managed to win two victories in the largest MMA promotion, but has not convinced that he is ready to reach the top of the division with the same ease as his compatriot Askar Askarov.
Both times he had to spend all the planned three rounds in the cage, and in the battle with Allan Nascimento he won only by a split decision of the judges.
Therefore, there could be no certainty that he would be able to simply pass the most experienced Elliott, and even so uncomfortable stylistically.
The American was considered a recognized specialist in grappling, capable of performing a painful or suffocating choke from any position.
Therefore, wrestling skills had to be used carefully.
Ulanbekov, as expected, did not force transfers to the ground, but preferred to exchange in the standing position.
However, Elliott managed to impose his style on the opponent over and over again.
The American acted quite adventurously - he constantly pressed and used any half-moment to get to his feet.
As a result, in the first three minutes, he twice laid the opponent on the floor, although later he could not keep him on the ground.
But if one could be prepared for Elliott's dominance in the fight, then few could have predicted what happened 35 seconds before the gong.
Tim showed a right jab, but instead he hit a powerful overhand right in the jaw and knocked down Ulanbekov.
He quickly jumped to his feet, but immediately missed the third takedown, after which one of the most discussed episodes of the fight took place.
When the Russian tried to get up, the American struck a knee in the head.
In total, in the first five minutes, Elliott performed a similar trick twice.
And both times he was within a fraction of a second from repeating Peter Yan's mistake in the fight with Algemain Sterling and earning a disqualification.
And in the first case, he quite likely violated the rules, because Ulanbekov's knee was on the ground at the time of the blow, while in the second, he rather acted according to the rules.
One way or another, the judge did not see a violation of the rules.
The second round was also unsuccessful for Ulanbekov.
In the standing position, he looked no better, and in the stalls he was inferior to the quirky Elliott.
He still managed to transfer that to the floor, but Tim wriggled out.
And in the end, he blocked the passage to the legs and almost ended up on top.
Tagir understood that he needed to win ahead of schedule, and did everything for this in the third period.
He still managed to "tie" the opponent at the net, after which he took his back and threw a choke from behind.
But the experienced American removed the grip without any problems and endured until the gong.
The Russian lost by unanimous decision and suffered his first defeat in the UFC.
Immediately after that, Khabib's cousin entered the cage, who was expected by an equally experienced opponent.
During his career, Brian Kelleher managed to hold 36 fights and ended two-thirds of them in his favor.
However, this time he was not able to compete either in wrestling or standing.
Nurmagomedov struck with speed already in the first seconds, throwing out a couple of lightning-fast “question strikes” (circular kick), and then demonstrated that the American was not his rival in the fight.
Umar drove him to the net, hooked him and immediately took his back.
The choke from behind turned out so tight that he had no choice but to knock.
Nurmagomedov won the 14th victory in his career and the seventh by submission, and at the end of the fight he said whether he plans to continue performing in the category up to 65.8 kg.
“I am very glad that I managed to overcome such an opponent.
A very strong guy.
Thank you very much for the confrontation ... I think I should fight in my weight - the lightest.
I accepted this fight on a short notice, and the opponent agreed ... I want to say that I am ready to fight in a few weeks.
If someone gets injured on March 26, I can return, ”Nurmagomedov said.
In total, the main fight of the evening was preceded by 12 fights, many of which were worthy of attention.
So, Marina Moroz forced Maria Agapova to surrender, and Sergey Spivak knocked out Greg Hardy.
Early victories were won by Jalyn Turner and Kevin Holland, with the latter interrupting an unsuccessful three-fight streak.
Over the past year, the middleweight has alternately lost to Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori, and his battle with Kyle Dacas was declared invalid.
In the first round, the opponents clashed heads and could not continue to fight.
In turn, Bryce Mitchell confirmed the status of one of the most promising featherweight fighters and won the 15th victory in a row.
In the first round, the American knocked down the experienced Edson Barboza, after which he reigned supreme on the ground.
In total, he transferred the Brazilian to canvas four times, and was on top for 11 minutes 28 seconds.
As a result, all three judges took his side, and two of them noted his colossal superiority in the octagon (30:25, 30:26, 30:27).
More than confidently took over and Rafael dos Anjos.
Initially, he was supposed to meet with Rafael Fiziev, but he got injured, as a result of which the matchmakers had to rush to look for a replacement.
Islam Makhachev expressed his readiness to leave with a short notice, but subsequently allegedly refused, as a result of which the final choice was made in favor of Renato Moicano.
And he could not impose a fight on the ex-UFC lightweight champion.
Dos Anjos outdid Mitchell and spent half a dozen takedowns (albeit in five rounds), and in the third segment he knocked down the enemy with a spectacular high-kick.
Moikano still managed to recover and even lasted until the end of the 25-minute, but no more.
Rafael won by unanimous decision and extended the successful streak.
As for the main fight, the intrigue was what plan Covington would choose.
Unlike Masvidal, he could offer not only the exchange of blows in the rack, but also the fight - something that is so inconvenient for his opponent.
And it is not surprising that it was on this aspect that the bet was made.
True, unlike the same Ben Askren, he did not rush to his feet at the first opportunity, but carefully chose the moment for the transfer, thereby protecting himself from dangerous counterattacks.
To win, Covington used not only his trademark wrestling skills, but also dirty tricks.
In the first round, he poked Masvidal in the eye, and in the second he hit a knee in the groin, for which he received a second warning from referee Herb Dean.
Perhaps this is what helped to unsettle the enemy, but the starting segments remained with Colby.
The first Jorge completely failed, and in the second, although he was marked by a powerful hit with his elbow, he looked a little worse.
Covington's dominance continued into the third round.
Until now, he has been able to press his opponent to the net to the maximum and try to perform a choke hold there.
This time, he managed to carry out a full-fledged takedown and be in full guard.
Powerful punches and elbows fell on Masvidal's head, totaling 62. Jorge lost the third segment in a row and lost hope of winning by decision.
For fans of Masvidal, hope dawned in the fourth round.
For the most part, he again went under the dictation of Covington, and at one point there was a feeling that he was able to knock out a former teammate.
But Jorge suddenly answered with a sweeping right to the jaw, after which Colby briefly dropped to one knee.
But Masvidal failed to develop success.
He again spent the last round on the ground, defending himself from constant choke attempts.
As a result, he could not oppose anything to Covington and suffered a third defeat in a row.
Colby not only put an end to their feud with a former comrade, but also returned to the championship race.
True, while it is much more interesting for him to get even with another representative of ATT.
After the end of the fight, he challenged Dustin Poirier.