Makhachev’s win ties him for the third-longest win streak in UFC history (13). The victory brought closure to a rivalry that started when Volkanovski gave Makhachev what might have been the toughest test of his career in their epic 155-pound championship bout at UFC 284 in February.

Makhachev defeated Volkanovski with what many felt was a controversial unanimous decision after five competitive rounds.

On Saturday, Makhachev left no doubt.

“Great setup, good kick,” Volkanovski said. “It’s hard, never like losing. He’s a great champion, what are you going to do? Credit it to him.”

Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has retained his title with a first-round stoppage of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294, an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Saturday night fight was a rematch from UFC 284 in February, when Makhachev of Russia won by unanimous decision.

Featherweight champion Volkanovski of Australia, taking the fight on just 11 days’ notice, moved up to the 155-pound (70.3kg) limit to be a replacement for former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, who suffered an injury during training.

This fight did not get past 3:06 of the first round. The 31-year-old Makhachev (25-1-0, five KOs) took down the 35-year-old Volkanovski (26-3, 13 KOs) with a head kick and finished him off with strikes on the ground.

“I have a great team. We always did this in the locker room, in the training – pushed me very hard,” Makhachev said. “I showed him a couple of low kicks, couple of body kicks and then changed to head kick. I want to say thank you to this guy [Volkanovski]. He’s a real champion.”

Chimaev defeats Usman in co-main event

In the co-main event, Chechen middleweight Khamzat Chimaev defeated Kamaru Usman by majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28).

Usman, 36, regarded as one of the best fighters of his generation and a former UFC welterweight champion, had taken the fight on 11 days’ notice. The Nigeria native and Florida resident filled in after two other fighters, Paulo Costa and Jared Cannonier, were injured.

Chimaev, 29, improved to 7-0 in UFC by dominating the first round, losing momentum in the second and getting a takedown in the third before a flurry of action to the final bell.

“I was a school kid when he was fighting,” Chimaev said of Usman. “This bout to me means big things.”