Islam Makhachev added another signature win to a résumé that already spoke for itself, defeating Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision to headline UFC 330 and make the first defense of his welterweight title. Judges scored it 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 after five rounds that swung between control on the canvas and flashes of danger whenever the bout stayed upright.
Makhachev, a former lightweight champion at 155 pounds (70 kg), had already added the 170-pound (77 kg) belt to his collection, a feat that puts him a step ahead of his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, who never held titles in two weight classes during his own run.
Garry walked in unbeaten and chasing his first taste of UFC gold, hoping his length and movement on the feet could offset Makhachev’s grappling pedigree.
The tone was set early. Makhachev worked a high kick, then dropped for a leg, and although Garry stuffed the first attempt, he gave up his back scrambling to his feet and spent much of round one pinned against the fence.
Garry answered in round two, opening with a pair of high kicks and later working the clinch, walking Makhachev back to the fence and trying the champion’s own game against him.
Makhachev responded by landing a head kick of his own, dropping Garry before returning the action to the floor and hunting for a choke from side control. Garry survived, clawing back to half guard with a minute left on the clock.
Round three swung to the challenger. He opened with another high kick, then layered in body strikes, a front kick to the face that called back to Anderson Silva’s finish of Vitor Belfort, a spinning back fist and a roundhouse that all but locked up the round in his favor. For a stretch, Makhachev found himself reacting rather than leading.
Garry kept the pressure going into round four with a low kick and a heavy shot to the body, but a mid-exchange lapse let Makhachev complete a takedown he’d otherwise been denied.
Garry worked back to the fence and appealed to the referee about a fence grab, then peppered Makhachev’s body with punches and elbows from below before the champion secured one more takedown late. By the horn, Garry looked the fresher man, with Makhachev bleeding.
Round five opened with both athletes embracing and playing to the crowd before Garry landed the first clean right hand and kept finding the body. Makhachev’s takedown attempts were coming up empty until, with roughly two and a half minutes left, he finally got Garry down, took the back, and locked in a body triangle that held for the rest of the round. He never forced a finish, but Garry couldn’t escape either, and that final sequence appeared to seal both the round and the fight for the champion.
What happened once the cage door opened turned into its own talking point online. Video from the aftermath shows Makhachev walking over to Garry’s corner, not for the usual handshake between opponents, but to check on Garry’s young child, whom he’d met earlier during media obligations.
As he leaned in toward the family, Garry’s wife appeared to reach out and touch him, an interaction that quickly drew attention because of a detail many casual viewers didn’t know: athletes from Dagestan, including Makhachev and Nurmagomedov, generally avoid physical contact with women outside their own families, often keeping a visible distance even for something as simple as a photograph.
That detail turned a warm, throwaway moment into a debate that spread across social media within hours.
The incident quickly became a talking point online, with reactions largely split between those who viewed the interaction as an innocent misunderstanding and those who felt Garry’s wife should have known better given Makhachev’s cultural and personal boundaries.
Some commenters suggested she may have initially mistaken Makhachev’s movement for an attempt to hug her, while others argued that the physical contact was inappropriate and should have been avoided.
Omg Islam went to comfort Ian’s son because he was crying at the end of the fight pic.twitter.com/HUqjtT2vxO
— Mia (@misan761) August 17, 2026
