Islam Makhachev won a championship round without landing a strike
Makhachev vs Machado Garry scorecards, round by round: Garry outlanded the champion 29 to 22 and still lost, and round five went to Makhachev on zero strikes.
Photo: Head of the Respublic of Dagestan / CC BY 3.0
Islam Makhachev kept the welterweight title in Philadelphia on Saturday, and he did it the way he now does everything: on the clock. Unanimous decision, 49-46 twice and 48-47 once, over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330.
Here is the part I cannot get past. In round five, the championship round of a pay-per-view main event, Makhachev landed zero significant strikes on three attempts. Zero. He also held Garry down for 3:12 of the five minutes, and all three judges gave him the round 10-9.
That is a legal round to win. It is also a round in which the champion of the world did not land a punch, a kick, an elbow or a knee that the statisticians could count, and won it on all three cards anyway.
The five rounds, as the judges saw them and as the numbers happened
| Round | Sig. strikes (Makhachev / Garry) | Takedowns | Control | Bell | D'Amato | Colón |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 / 0 | 1 of 5 | 3:38 | Makhachev | Makhachev | Makhachev |
| 2 | 11 / 6 | 1 of 1 | 2:19 | Makhachev | Makhachev | Makhachev |
| 3 | 5 / 9 | 1 of 2 | 0:16 | Garry | Garry | Garry |
| 4 | 3 / 7 | 2 of 5 | 3:05 | Makhachev | Makhachev | Garry |
| 5 | 0 / 7 | 2 of 2 | 3:12 | Makhachev | Makhachev | Makhachev |
Totals: Makhachev 22 significant strikes of 44 thrown, seven takedowns of 15 attempted, 12:30 of control, one knockdown in round two. Garry 29 significant strikes of 65 thrown, no takedowns, 34 seconds of control.
So the challenger outlanded the champion by seven significant strikes across 25 minutes and lost four rounds on two cards. Rounds three, four and five were Garry's on the strike counts, 9-5, 7-3 and 7-0, and he was given exactly one of them by Michael Bell and Sal D'Amato. Only Eric Colón gave him a second, which is why one card read 48-47 and why one more round in the wrong place turns this into an argument that lasts a decade.
Photo: Oisinvg / CC BY-SA 4.0
Let's be honest about which way that cuts. The cards were not wrong. Wrestling is scoring, a takedown is offense, and a man pinned under Makhachev is a man who cannot fight. If the criteria say the fighter imposing his will wins the round, Makhachev imposed his will for half of the fight's total minutes. I would have scored it for him too.
But there is a difference between a verdict and a spectacle, and the gap between them is now the story of this title reign.
What Della Maddalena got, and what Garry did
Nine months ago Makhachev took the belt off Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 and did not lose a single round on a single card. Three judges, five rounds each, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45. D'Amato was one of the three that night as well. Makhachev outlanded Della Maddalena 30 to 18 in significant strikes, went four for four on takedowns and controlled him for 19:10 of the 25 minutes. That is not a decision, that is a demonstration.
Saturday was 12:30 of control instead of 19:10, seven takedowns from 15 attempts instead of four from four, and 22 strikes landed instead of 30. Garry hit him more than Della Maddalena did, defended better, and got up. He is 10-2 in the Octagon with a 71 percent takedown defense rate on our numbers, and he was the second-best welterweight in the world walking in at number one in the rankings. This was not a mismatch dressed up as a title fight, whatever the closing line said.
And the closing line was where the money was: Makhachev at -350 as the median of 25 books, Garry at +275. Our model was kinder to the challenger than the market was, giving Makhachev 60.5 percent. The scorecards ended up nearer to the model than to the sportsbooks. Garry took a round from every judge in the building.
The finish is the thing that is missing
Makhachev is 18-1 across 19 UFC appearances. His last stoppage was Renato Moicano in January 2025, a first-round submission at 4:05. Since then: 25 minutes, then 25 more. Two welterweight title fights, 50 minutes of championship boxing and wrestling, zero finishes, and one round in which he did not land a single countable strike.
He is 34 years old, he has never been beaten in a title fight, and he has 3.22 takedowns per 15 minutes with 91 percent takedown defense. He is very likely the best fighter alive. He is also, on the current evidence, the least likely champion in the sport to end a fight, and the UFC has spent two pay-per-view main events selling him as the thing that happens to people.
The complaint here is not about Makhachev, who is doing precisely what the rules reward, and doing it better than anyone. It is about a scoring system that hands out a championship round for 3:12 of holding and no offense, and then asks fans to pay for the next one. Fix the criteria or stop being surprised when the main event is judged rather than won.
What is next
Garry is still number one at welterweight. Carlos Prates is number two, Michael Morales number three, Della Maddalena number four with a rematch claim nobody wants to hear yet. Somewhere in there is a man who can make Makhachev throw punches for five rounds.
Round five said that man is not born yet. Round three said he might be.