UFC MONTHLY REPORT | OCTOBER 2023

This was the kind of performance that Martinez has needed throughout his steady climb up the bantamweight ranks.

While he delivered a nearly identical effort two fights earlier against Cub Swanson, the fact that it came against a veteran relocating to the 135-pound weight class for the first (and seemingly only) time lessened the impact of his second-round stoppage win. For one reason or another, his unanimous decision victory over the always dangerous Said Nurmagomedov didn’t really resonate either, which made his pairing this month with Adrian Yanez critical.

Despite entering on a five-fight winning streak and being stationed ahead of the Dana White’s Contender Series grad in the rankings, Martinez felt like the B-side heading into the contest, but quickly showed that he was the superior talent. Just as he did to Swanson 364 days earlier, Martinez attacked the lead leg of Yanez early, often, and with impunity, leaving him limping noticeably by the end of the first round and incapable of continuing by the midway point of the second.

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Martinez isn’t someone that has a large social media presence or even all that much to say in his post-fight interviews, but he’s now on a six-fight winning streak in what is arguably the deepest and most talent-rich division in the UFC. He’s 10-2 over his last dozen fights, with one of those setbacks coming by split decision in a fight just about everyone believes he won, and his main card felling of Yanez should put him in a position to share the Octagon with another ranked opponent next time out.

If you were sleeping on Martinez before this, I’m sure he has your full and undivided attention now.

Honorable Mentions: Joe Pyfer, Nate Maness, Michel Pereira, Melissa Dixon, Ikram Aliskerov, Shara Magomedov

Submission of the Month: Muhammad Mokaev def. Tim Elliott (UFC 294)

As a sucker for a good ninja choke, I was tempted to tap Said Nurmagomedov here, but the ramifications of Mokaev’s victory at UFC 294 make it stand out even more.

Entering the fight with five victories in as many UFC appearances and facing a ranked opponent for the first time, the 23-year-old rising star calmly and patiently registered the biggest win of his career in Abu Dhabi, submitting Elliott in the third round with an arm-triangle choke.

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This was positioned as a major test for Mokaev and the ascending prospect passed with flying colors, navigating a pair of close, competitive rounds to emerge as the much fresher of the two in the third, where he’s had a penchant for putting people away. He never looked bothered in the moments where Elliott was having success earlier in the fight, cooly extracting himself from a couple different submission attempts that looked like they could be troublesome.

Early in the third, Mokaev hit a beautiful peak-out to wrestle Elliott to the canvas before chipping away with short shots until the arm-triangle setup presented itself. Though it seemed like he might be restricted by his proximity to the fence, the youngster floated over to the choking side and deepened the squeeze, quickly drawing out the tap from Elliott.

As it turned out, he needed the finish, as Mokaev was down two rounds on two of the three scorecards heading into the final stanza.

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Now 11-0 with one no contest for his career, Mokaev rose into the Top 10 with the victory, and is the type of exceptional talent that could very well spend the better part of the next decade in that group.

Honorable Mentions: Pyfer vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan, Said Nurmagomedov vs. Muin Gafurov

Knockout of the Month: Islam Makhachev def. Alexander Volkanovski (UFC 294)

There couldn’t be any other choice.

Makhachev entered his lightweight championship rematch with Volkanovski looking to make it crystal clear to all those that questioned the outcome of their first meeting or heaped praise on the featherweight boss that he was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, and then made his point in the most emphatic way possible.

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Just over three minutes into the UFC 294 main event, Makhachev unleashed a left high kick that struck Volkanovski flush, shaking his equilibrium and sending him to the canvas. The lightweight champion was quick to pounce and unload a torrent of follow-up blows, leaving referee Marc Goddard no choice but to step in and halt the action.

In the first minute of this fight, Yusuff hurt Barboza bad — like “Herb Dean could have certainly stepped in and stopped the fight and no one would have really argued against it” bad — and after the opening five minutes, you would have been hard pressed to find many people outside of Barboza’s team and his most ardent loyalists that would have believed the Brazilian veteran would survive to the end of the contest.

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Those first five minutes felt like Father Time had finally chased down the 13-year UFC veteran, as the power coming at him from his younger opponent seemed as if it was too much for Barboza to handle.

So how’s this for an M. Night Shyamalan-level twist for you: not only did Barboza not get finished, but he won every subsequent round to claim a unanimous decision victory with scores of 48-46 twice and 49-46 once to post his second straight win.

This was a fight won on tenacity and veteran force of will as much as anything else, and becomes another impressive entry in the otherworldly slate of fights and highlights Barboza has amassed over the course of his UFC tenure. He clipped Yusuff with his signature spinning wheel kick at one point and actually distanced himself from his younger opponent as the fight wore on, ramping up his output over the final two rounds.

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Yusuff will surely learn from this effort and be better for having gone through it, while Barboza simply continues to be an extraordinary talent holding down a place in the Top 15, happy to throw down with whoever the UFC puts in front of him.

Honorable Mentions: Christian Rodriguez vs. Cameron Saaiman, Dixon vs. Irina Alekseeva, Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kamaru Usman