Islam Makhachev didn’t look like a man who’d just made history at UFC 330 on Sunday. His nose was scraped open, his right cheek sliced, his forehead cut, and a baseball-sized bruise sat on his left cheek. In short, he bore proof of exactly how hard Ian Machado Garry had made him work. None of that mattered by the time the scorecards were read. Makhachev won anyway, and in doing so, broke a UFC record that had stood for 13 years.
The unanimous decision over Machado Garry in the main event of UFC 330 on Saturday night gave Makhachev his 17th consecutive victory, successfully defending his 170-pound championship and moving him past UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva’s mark of 16 straight wins—a record that had sat untouched since Silva set it. The judges scored it 49-46 twice and 48-47 on the third card, in a fight that was competitive without ever quite tipping into greatness.
“He gave me a hard time,” Makhachev said afterward, “but I still prove it every fight.”
A Record 13 Years in the Making
Makhachev hasn’t lost since UFC 192 back in 2015, and this particular title defense came with real turbulence attached. He wore his share of head kicks over five rounds, most of the visible damage arriving in the third, but the result never seriously wavered from his favor. UFC CEO Dana White didn’t hold back afterward, suggesting that if Makhachev keeps performing at this level, his new record “might never be beaten.”
The fight had its share of real drama, even if it fell short of an instant classic. Makhachev came close to ending things outright in the second round, connecting with a left-footed head kick that dropped Machado Garry to the canvas. He followed with a flurry of punches that had the sellout crowd of 19,238 roaring for a finish, but Machado Garry—fielding obscenity-laced chants from the crowd throughout the night—survived the round and kept fighting.
Machado Garry Made Makhachev Earn It
To his credit, Machado Garry didn’t fade quietly. He won the third round on all three scorecards and came alive again in the fifth, landing seven significant strikes to Makhachev’s zero over that stretch. It wasn’t enough to shift the outcome, but it was enough to make Makhachev’s face look like the fight had gone the other way.
Machado Garry, now 17-2, was gracious in defeat. “I believed in my heart and soul I was better than him tonight, and he won,” he said. “No complaints, no excuses. I’m 28, I have a decade of domination already. This man won tonight.”
For Makhachev, now 29-1, the win extends a run that’s spanned weight classes entirely. He captured the welterweight title in his very first attempt against it, beating Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 back in November 2025, adding to a résumé that already included the lightweight championship. Between both divisions, he now holds seven career wins in title fights—and, as of Sunday, a streak nobody else in UFC history has ever matched.
