Back in 2018, UFC 223 was headlined by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Al Iaquinta for the vacant lightweight title. Al Iaquinta …

thank you [Applause] Michael met off in red Ally acquaintance in blue there’s a vulner brewery and nurmaga Med office when he comes looking for a takedown he carries his chin a little high yeah but here’s the question does Al go For Broke or does he try to win a long fight what’s his mindset coming into here is he going to try to fight five rounds or is he gonna try to just Kamikaze and take this dude out in the first round [Applause] interesting question khabib’s last two opponents very good defensive wrestlers Michael Johnson and that’s in Barboza romago Madoff still had his way with them and largely was able to take them down at will I a Quinta threatening with the takedown [Applause] we did hear some Rumblings he might try to do some offensive wrestling early him right away so about a minute gets his first takedown let’s see what he can do with it the bad side if you’re gonna get taken down by Norman gotta make him expend a lot of energy going for it he got it very quickly yeah let’s see what kind of half guard Al has now he’s inside control he’s gonna give up his back if he just tries to muscle out of this throws hooks in he gave up his back good scramble Al’s almost up and he’s up wrist control for Ally and Quinta but a good sign that he was able to get back to his feet the question is for how long that’s a tremendous sign boom let’s see his guard let’s see if he tries to you no wow Rhino immediately steps easy in the mouth you know when he studied khabib there’s no magic to his take him he’s just tenacious with it he just keeps going after it and he lifts he’s so strong Alice got a Kimura but he’s on no guard it’s not gonna work yeah he’s on the bottom he’s got to free those legs up he only has one arm he doesn’t have any stand up though almost back up now remember New York City Athletic commission has adopted new rules so as soon as Al only has one hand and both feet down he can get knee well I think he’s talking to him already right is here one thing about khabibi does it need a lot of space to land hard punches hard elbows does a lot of damage from in close well he’s got tremendous control and those that train with him say he feels like a light heavyweight two minutes here to go in round one has been susceptible to the submission in his career they’re trying to get a microphone on him so he can hear what he’s saying you just feel the physical pressure of khabib in that wrestling ride not trying hard for hooks he’s trying to ride him out take the energy right out of him just sap him make him carry that weight and he certainly makes the ground strikes count already some significant swelling around that left eye for ayaquinta now’s back up to his feet though the question is for how long that long he’s getting mauled like everybody else before him right and that’s usually a difficult position to lift and get a takedown he’s right there incredibly strong that’s a lifetime of high level grappling and it’s amazing to hear the fellow lightweights talk about nurmago Madame and the reverence it’s awe they’re in awe of him when you talk about them they’re like man to be great in this sport is is hard enough to be elite is so rare to be really feared it’s something special people are scared of this guy yeah and as I said in the beginning he is as David Goggins would describe uncommon amongst uncommon men yeah perhaps the most uncommon lightweight Contender we’ve ever seen I have Quinta doing his best though back to his feet the wrestling Escape trying to control the wrist in the hand but he’s trying hard now but he’s in there with an animal has responded well to adversity throughout his UFC career when it has reared its head to really knock Downs against Jorge Moscow came back to win that fight I’m sure khabib has other ideas my last comment on that takedown usually that single leg you have to Circle and angle and kind of drop the guy because he just lift him up and drop ped impressive that’s also you know go back to the game plan don’t get frustrated by that first round go back to what we trained Don’t Panic rely on your Technique good stick there by ayaquinta that was nice and low here too [Music] [Applause] diving for that single leg diving for it oh and he gets free but he didn’t get the separation it’s a terrifying fish too it’s just the way he closes the distance with such finality usually when someone’s that low on a single leg below the knee they just have the ankle you can just kick out of it and you see how like what you’re trying to do that he’s realizing man it’s like a vice on the end of my foot Al’s looking for the arm bar he’s looking to get that right leg across the face trying to create the angle has talked a lot about how different MMA wrestling is than freestyle or Greco-Roman he feels like that’s what makes this sport so interesting and his MMA wrestling at the top of the heat big deep breaths now from raging out once again back to the wrestling ride not trying to put his legs in not trying to get hooks not being overly aggressive just taking the energy out of Allied so wrestling rides are so good at it [Applause] fully thank you doing a good job of using the fence and those legs out right out from underway in switch position he’s not going to get that as long as his his legs are underneath [Music] two and a half minutes gone by here in round two khabibat his suffocating best as usual giving up his back again you can’t give up your back like that look how he grabs the back leg that’s beautiful right in front of Matt Sarah that’s a good thing if he can tell you anything but the difference in skill level is so high I don’t know if it’s enough fishing for the neck he might have it this could be it nope but now full Mount turning on his side frying pan Into the Fire going to try to control that left wrist but he ain’t a big right hand there he’s going under the neck again he’s got him fully flattened out here worst position to be in the back of the head there you go trying very hard to get out of this but there’s just not much he can do with this control and every time he raises up he exposes his neck just like that we went sideways here that’s slightly better he’s already going for the arm triangle defensive twice grabbing his leg to defend against the arm triangle a case of pick your poison here for Raging Ally equinto one minute to go on the round this was what could be does it makes you absolutely miserable with his pressure his ground impound his control what’s crazy is he does it to everybody I mean we’ve never even oh look at this he’s got the back again we’ve never remotely seen him in trouble on the ground I mean his dominance on the ground is really unprecedented we’ve seen really good guys on the ground but he redefines it and he really calculates risk on the ground well he doesn’t compromise position unless he feels like he has a strike opening or a sub and I think that’s a big key to his success is I only go for the choke winch really really there he doesn’t risk position going for a lot of submissions he doesn’t go for a ton of them right when he goes from us because he’s really got it he’s content to stay on top and do damage [Applause] strikes here it does look as though ayaquinta could survive this round I was going to shake him off look at this [Applause] third round of a possible five here and remarkable red Allied punches in blue we’ll see if I aquinta can get those hands going early round three instead khabib throws the right and Lance yeah with a nice jab there he’s winging these punches though it really is well it’s not as though they’re trying to reinvent nurmago Madoff every time they Trot him out there but they want to send out an improved Edition and that’s a big part of the focus for Javier Mendez Madoff has never been knocked down in his Pro MMA career one more time he has started to throw a lot more kicks in training of course that ball goes the training camp helped a lot and you think you can kind of see Al trying to figure out how to land the right hand and land power punches without closing distance so much I get taken down because khabib has shown the ability to die from the outside not really set up the shots let’s go and go for him Al’s talking to him now to beat hit him with a couple of Jabs and I’ll start talking to him wow quick finding a home for that right hand [Applause] from the hit very very quickly look at that fake oh interesting Longo looking for Ryan Clinton to follow up that shot oh nice right hand over the top that was real [Applause] have certainly inflicted more damage but I acquaint to having some moments now [Applause] oh man khabib takes a lot of risks with that Shin High defense not really his thing willing to walk forward [Applause] saw a lot of confidence in that lead Jab khabib six of ten honest takedown attempts thus far we’ll see if he shoots again here shortly USA chance here at Park Place Center as this New York crowd tries to get behind one of their own [Applause] Ally aquinta has faked for the takedown a few times he hasn’t committed to a takedown been content to stand and Bang from that low stance so far hasn’t had an answer for the jab of khabib it almost looked like he wanted to stay stationary to look for the opening for the counter yeah he wasn’t trying it yeah right there trying to pull and shoot that’s hard to do off the jab it’s much easier to counter off power punches not really able to do much off the jab yet he’s talking to him nice counter right lands variety but really from day one remago Madoff has been ready for prime time so much confidence in his preparation his work ethic his team that goes 25 or 30 deep under a minute now to go round three I equipment to hanging in we’ve standing a lot more than I thought he would in his fight already only three rounds in the cow is talking to him a lot you wonder if the language barrier prevents effective Trash Talk they’re really communicating well I think it’s mostly mumbles I think I think he gets the gist of it though usually does his in-fight trash talking in his opponent’s native tongue so he’s pretty good with that yeah and he usually does it while he’s on top of you so you can hear him really clearly because he’s in your ear behind you it’s not even trash talking he’s begging you to give up yeah but not here this is different God the entire third round on the feet Championship rounds forthcoming yeah let’s go well them out freeze head movement baby head movement let’s make a mess come on he gave us he gave us the round to get in me and let’s go that’s how we feeling it’s awesome he’s not shooting out he’s feeling it too brother you got to talk about white racing the body instead of the overhand let’s do it all right who would have thunk it so was the message there for nurmago Madoff to get back to the strategy from rounds one and two boys 100 totally 100 and then standing that much gave Ally Quentin hits Corner a lot of confidence right yeah you heard Matt Sarah motivation yeah [Applause] I want those guys to do a reality show well I think if you had told timayaquinta that they had reached the championship rounds they would have taken that how much would you love to be a fly on the wall watching Conor McGregor watch this right now oh screaming and yelling [Applause] to take down attempts have been thwarted by ayaquinta Quinta is teaching us a lot about the possible vulnerabilities that khabib has because he’s not the striker that Conor is he’s not the same kind of dynamic in and out movement Sharp Shooting punches and ridiculous one punch power he’s a different animal but he’s surviving the toughness and with pure insanity let’s not forget angry background blowing that stance he’s wide with his feet yes he’s approaching like a wrestler wood and that’s an important component that went to former wrestler at Nassau County Community College and there have been guys in the past Pat Healy Jason Tebow that have provided some resistance to nirvago Madame in terms of his takedown game [Applause] oh what Al hasn’t done is is put punches together effectively he’s had a couple of one shots he’ll leap in with one but not really effective with the combinations what’s crazy is that this is still standing all right I’m I’m curious why I’m curious why remember the Madoff has chosen the strategy or if he doesn’t there he goes if he doesn’t feel like he can complete it like this three in a row and the Striking I think has been working pretty well for khabib I mean Al’s been in it but I think Caboose for the most part been out striking and he has but it’s not impressive yeah it’s these these shots are not I mean they’re okay but it’s not like we’re watching a world-class Striker we’re watching a guy who’s hitting a guy with Jabs but he’s already beaten up on the ground and he’s avoiding this guy’s power punches but this is no way dominance on the feet he’s just winning you know he’s winning with the jab and he’s blooding Al’s face up but Al is dangerous right here let’s check back in on that power Corner Ray Longo matsara I wanted to decapitated with a head kick come on now yes got to do is throwing a kick after that finish over the top bring those guys some canoes it’s so awesome nice though [Applause] finish with a hoe nothing there come on well they knew they were throwing a game fighter in there tonight and I think that has proven that and then off shakes that left hand off he shook it off but it connected [Applause] one of the difficulties with what has happened all week the change of opponents and Allied to stepping up tough guy is anything less than complete dominance a Wipeout right disappointing yes foreign I don’t really know but a lot of fans will see it that way oh it’s already disappointing this this round is very disappointing from member of the metal standards are so high Joe Al’s very dangerous here and it wasn’t supposed to be look at that and it looks to me like Norma comment off is slowing down more vulnerable and one of the things he’s never been through a five-round fight never been through a championship fight and let’s also not forget ayaquinta he did have a full training camp at a championship five round training camp takes out a little bit of a different tone in terms of the rounds the sparring and look at him here at the end of this fourth round hanging tough well with anything no matter whoa no matter what happens raging out stock goes up 100 yeah [Music] 126-16 and he adds to that total there that’s a crazy number that is crazy oh right hand over the top but no combinations afterwards this is just pretty much one the thing is 126-18 that number 18 could knock someone dead and if that does happen it doesn’t matter and all those numbers mean nothing this stuff it’s very interesting in his Corner they were saying take him down take him down it was much easier to finish on the ground than he is on the feet there were no there was no tactical advice and how to set that shot up I didn’t hear any of that it was take him down but you know Alex we’ve just been doing a good job countering that single leg by turning out and kicking his legs look at the body and a left up top and meanwhile this is the fifth and final round so Al knows he’s only got four and a half minutes to go that’s it he’s got it he can throw it and khabib does not have his father here tonight abdomenon normango Madoff had some Visa issues unable to be in his corner oh Ally and Quentin still throwing heavy punches is stopped going up with every single run aquamano fires back with that jab it’s been there all night Jimmy you’re so right about none of the men off chin I mean it is up in the air straight up in the air and he’s pulling back straight leaning back with his weight past his hips that’s why I’m curious why we haven’t seen more accommodations from Ketchum moving back with that third that fourth punch maybe that one will win he can see the first two third and fourth are harder to see house throwing everything into each touch and he’s just not throwing those kind of combinations I think that’s the weakness to his style it was a hard one and two look at it the way he’s pulling back with his chin up is very amateurish body shot is there not what you want to see from a guy who’s the most threatening lightweight in the world you want to see a full game a few short months ago against Barboza he looked like the most dominant fighter perhaps in the world in any division [Applause] that one was much deeper than those outside low single legs we saw before and he couldn’t finish some Vision issues for Al with that left eye now he’s having trouble seeing fly me lands foreign [Applause] [Applause] the Russians being heard from now Ronaldo trying to become that nation’s first Undisputed UFC champion [Applause] who would say it’s disputed [Applause] [Music] 7-15 on the takedown attempts [Applause] all right oh all right both hooks in these high in the ride he’s going around that leg again there nope that’s on the jaw my mistake you can still finish it there but yeah but you got to have that unbelievable squeeze and probably allia quince’s finalist jawbreak four taps yeah it’s a tough dude to work with a neck drink [Applause] said that made this fight exciting that Ally acquaintance being tough as nails and crazy proved to be absolutely correct accurate 1000 yeah this is an entertaining fight oh look at this high oh I love how he does that training position yes he cradles that leg and maintains that that background well somewhat implausibly Ally aquinta and Habib nurmago manage Go the Distance wow wow that was a hell of a fight we go to the judges scorecards for decision the judges score the contest 50-44 50-43 and 50-43 for the winner by unanimous decision and a new uncomputed UFC lightweight champion of the world khabib the eagle oh [Applause]