UFC 330: Makhachev vs Garry - Aug 15 🇺🇸

[Egg Shen]

Good main event, not a barnburner but kept my attention. Garry did a great job of neutralizing Islam, he was not really in any danger the whole fight either (head kick aside). I think Islam will eventually come unstuck at 170lb, there's some monsters waiting for him.

[Dai]

Was it a sickening gash on Barboza's leg? Once it was cleaned up it looked quite small didnt it. Speaking of Barboza, him losing to Father Time was very depressing. Looked completely past it. Speaking of time, in the 'things to make you feel old' category, Rogan said that Barboza's KO of Etim was "way back when". Doesnt feel that long ago, but it was 14 years ago!

Abdul Malik, despite all the hype from the commentators and the coaches saying how great he was, how hes the best athlete, etc, completely wilted when he got tagged. No amount of training can prepare you for that I guess, when you get taken into deep water. Good fight mind.

Turner had some great, old school ground and pouund to win. Feels like you dont see it that often like this any more.

"Theres nothing like these undisputed UFC title fights", said Anik before Dern/Robertson. What? Not sure saying that before what wouldnt look out of place as an Apex main event is really the time to do it. 

I originally thought that Robertson had one of the worst UFC Title performances of all time in this one, but then Im thinking I maybe shouldnt be that harsh, as shes not really a title level competitor. She performed exactly how a mid ranked fighter should, I guess. It just shows the lack of depth in the division. Robertson had a stinker though. Didnt go for broke and just seemed happy to be outpointed. The main takeaway is Zhang will destroy Dern.

Rogan bollocks of the night; "Once you get the title you get 10 percent better". What? Absolute bollocks.

Can we get the hyper cringe Buffer/Garry intro as a gif please? Was toe curlingly embarrassing.  

Not sure what to make of the main event. Like you say, Ebb, Garry neutralized Islam very well, but maybe at the expense of his own offense and chance to win the fight. Garry wasnt in any danger really for the fight, but at no point did it feel like he was winning it either. Extremely passive in the standup, so should have taken more of a gamble I think, in order to win the fight. Feels like a missed opportunity for Garry, to really have a pop at Islam. I think Islam may need to take 6 months off and try and put on 5lbs of decent mass, as he was clearly undersized in this one I thought, and it was only his skill superiority that allowed him to win a close fight. 

[Bruce85]

3 hours ago, Dai said:

Was it a sickening gash on Barboza's leg? Once it was cleaned up it looked quite small didnt it.

I dunno, I’m so bad with blood, once they showed it I had to quickly look away. 
 

Off topic but years ago I was watching bizzar ER on bbc 3 and a farmer got mangled in some equipment. I went to the bathroom to be sick and ended up fainting and smashing my head on the toilet and giving myself concussion. I’m not talking any chance these days haha 

[jimufctna24]

I haven't watched much of Garry's fights, but from what I've read he's very difficult to look good against, If true, then Makhachev's performance was passable, especially given he's fighting above his ideal weight class. 

Makhachev has always looked a bit vulnerable btw, which isn't a knock on him. It's to be expected given the quality of fighters he's faced. Granted, he doesn't have the durability/cardio of the likes of Khabib and Jones, who were barely even hurt throughout their MMA careers and rarely looked tired, but that's rarefied air imo. 

Edit: I agree with Wand that Garry comes across as a bit of a try hard btw. 

Edited August 18 by jimufctna24

[Egg Shen]

Yeah, Garry can be exciting if he's outmatched an opponent but if it's competitive his fights can be a bit dull because he's not really a risk taker.

Dern/Robertson is getting talked about for what happened post-fight. The whole Din Thomas thing has blown up, I see why Thomas was frustrated and what not but it was the wrong time to announce his retirement from cornering, felt very heartless. Robertson had a mare though, she just seemed physically out her depth, outside of going for broke I dont know what she could have done differently though. 

Women's MMA is in a weird spot. It's fights like that makes me wish they did shorter rounds like in the Boxing.

 

[wandshogun09]

Way late but finally caught up on everything 330.

Happy to see Makhachev hold onto the belt. Wasn’t a FOTY contender or anything but I don’t think anyone with realistic expectations thought it would be. I enjoyed it for what it was although it’s definitely not a fight I’d be in a hurry to rewatch. I had Makhachev winning three or four rounds. Think I gave Garry the fourth and maybe one other round. The right man won. Not sure what to think though. It’s undeniable that Makhachev hasn’t been as exciting to watch since moving up to Welterweight. How much of that is the size factor or was this more a case of Garry just being an awkward guy to look good against? Remember, Shavkat couldn’t finish Garry either. Garry’s the only fighter in Shavkat’s career who wasn’t finished by him. But then Islam couldn’t get Maddalena out of there either, despite completely dominating him. So that does suggest he’s struggling a bit with the bigger guys at 170. He can still win obviously, just on his skills he’s good enough to beat these top Welterweights and hold onto the gold. He’s a special fighter. But it feels like we’re seeing him at the absolute limit here of what he can do and, unlike at 155 where it felt like nobody on the horizon could beat him, at 170 it feels like that first big loss isn’t too far away now. Garry didn’t embarrass himself but he didn’t exactly grab the bull by the horns either. It was one of those performances where he’ll watch it back and kick himself because it felt like he definitely could’ve done more. All the high fiving and glove touching and hugging was doing my bastard head in, to be honest.

On 8/18/2026 at 3:22 PM, Dai said:

Can we get the hyper cringe Buffer/Garry intro as a gif please? Was toe curlingly embarrassing.  

And this. Fuck me. Throw ‘em both in the bin.

Wonder what’s next for Makhachev. It’s gotta be Carlos Prates or Michael Morales surely. They’re the two highest ranked fresh challengers at 170 now. Prates is ranked higher and probably deserves it more based on the quality of some of his wins. But then Morales did weigh in as the backup for this show and hit ‘championship weight’ so that has to count for something. It’s a funny situation because what I really wanna see is Prates and Morales against each other. I think that’s a much more exciting fight than either of them against Makhachev. But I don’t wanna see one of them eliminate the other from the title race either. In an ideal world we get to see Makhachev defend against one of them next (probably Prates), with the winner facing the other guy (Morales) after that. Only problem with that is Makhachev isn’t very active so those two would be required to sit out waiting for a while. I can actually see the UFC pushing for Prates vs Morales in the meantime now. It’d be a true number one contender fight and it’d almost be guaranteed to be fireworks. I definitely wouldn’t hate it. But it does feel like Makhachev should be defending against both of them.

Wasn’t a fan of the Dern vs Robertson fight at all. Thought it was pretty awful to watch actually but fair play, I guess, Dern got the job done.

It wasn’t Esparza vs Namajunas bad or Pena vs Pennington bad, but a bit shit nonetheless. If I can find a positive in it, Dern’s offensive takedowns seem to have improved. But then how much of that was just down to Robertson having nothing for her? I don’t even wanna be harsh on Robertson, she was clearly just out of her depth. I don’t think there’s much else she could’ve done. She was never gonna hang with Dern in a pure grappling match but my hope was that she could find a way to make it ugly and make a bit of a scrap of it at least. She couldn’t do anything though.

The post-fight fallout has all been about this Din Thomas situation and it’s fucking weird to me. I always liked Din myself. Going all the way back to TUF 4, I felt like he was one of the more likeable guys on the show. Never made it past a certain level in the UFC but I always kind of rooted for him after TUF. Didn’t mind his analyst work either. But this? He’s came across as a complete and utter dickhead to the point I think I must’ve had him wrong all these years. To go on air immediately after the fight and throw Robertson under the bus the way he did was bullshit. It wasn’t like he was necessarily wrong when he said this was probably as far as she can go. I actually think he’s 100% correct on that. But that’s not something you just blurt out on the post-fight show the same night as your fighter just suffered her biggest loss. Then to retire from coaching so publicly. 1) Why did we need to hear that? And 2) that’s a conversation him and Gillian should’ve had behind closed doors, not him just announcing it live on television. He apologised after and it seemed genuine. But then Gillian was on Helwani’s show saying she didn’t accept his apology because she had reason to believe it wasn’t genuine based on comments he’d made to her team. And now just days later, Din’s already saying he’s considering cornering Sean Brady in his upcoming fight in November. Seriously? So he’s not ‘retired’. He’s just abandoned Robertson at her lowest point. There’s no way to dress it up. He’s handled it like a right cunt.

What can you even say about the Jalin Turner fight? Christ. I was expecting a fun standup fight there but it was all done and dusted in 39 seconds.

Just bulldozed him quick. Considering Turner actually retired a few years back due to mental health issues, it’s great to see him seemingly back on track now. Undeniably talented and he’s got obvious physical gifts being as big as he is for Lightweight. Not sure what his ceiling is but if his mind is right there’s no reason he can’t potentially go on a bit of a run. Plenty of fun fights to be made with him at 155. Imagine him against Fiziev?

Stoltzfus subbing Abdul Malik was a bit of a surprise just because it really felt like almost an ideal rebound fight for Malik after that loss to Yousri Belgaroui last time out. I think it’s clear this fight was put together with the intention of it being a squash match to get Malik back on track. Stoltzfus obviously didn’t get the memo.

On 8/18/2026 at 3:22 PM, Dai said:

Abdul Malik, despite all the hype from the commentators and the coaches saying how great he was, how hes the best athlete, etc, completely wilted when he got tagged. No amount of training can prepare you for that I guess, when you get taken into deep water. Good fight mind.

Yeah, I seem to remember they were bigging him up something fierce in the Belgaroui fight as well and he got messed up. Nothing against Malik but for some reason it seems pretty obvious he was one of those ‘chosen ones’ the UFC were expecting big things from right out the gate and it was almost like the commentators were given the nudge to really push him as something special. It’s harsh but I always find it a little bit satisfying when that goes tits up.

Ribovics vs Barboza was sadly predictable. Barboza took a beating and got stopped by a guy who, in my opinion, would’ve been tailor made for a younger Barboza to style on in his prime. And I like Ribovics. Exciting fighter. But a younger, fresher and sharp Barboza was lethal and I think he would’ve capitalised on Ribovics’ aggression and lack of defence in brutal fashion back then. In 2026 though?

Hopefully the retirement sticks. Right now he’s making all the right noises that he’s done. He’s confirmed this week that he’s been partially blind in one eye since the Lerone Murphy training camp in 2024. So that explains the dodgy looking eye I’ve been mentioning in the previews for his last few fights. He’s even gone as far as to urge promoters not to contact him or make him any offers. Hopefully the blood sucking ghouls respect his wishes and leave him the fuck alone. He’s saying the only competition he’d be open to is grappling. He’ll probably be more interested in BJJ matches but maybe with the emergence of RAF, that’s another outlet for him. Just don’t take another punch or kick for the rest of your life please Edson. Loved watching him up until these last few years. As far as pure striking in MMA goes, his had to be some of the most aesthetically pleasing and beautiful to watch in the game.

Chidi Njokuani vs Joel Alvarez was a bit flat and disappointing, I thought. Nice win for Chidi though but I thought Alvarez looked bad here. He did jump in on short notice so maybe that was a factor but, I don’t know, I expected more from him here. Just felt like he didn’t play to his strengths and Chidi was able to just work at his own pace and comfortably outpoint him on the feet.

I say it a lot on here and he’s wildly hit and miss results-wise, but Charles Johnson is fucking quality! Win or lose there almost always seems to be some wacky entertaining shite going on in his fights. This time he goes and busts out the Scottish Twister…

Funny how the Twister is becoming a slightly more regular thing now. For years it was stuck at only three in UFC history (Zombie, Bryce, Blackshear). Now we’re at a point where we’ve seen the Scottish variation twice in the space of four months. And this after Charles himself lost via Suloev Stretch in his previous fight in June! Like I said, rarely a dull moment win or lose when it comes to Charles Johnson. This was a good little fight before the finish as well. Thought Chapolin looked a bit of a handful in spells and it’s worth remembering he stepped in on very short notice when Jose Ochoa dropped out. Looking forward to seeing more of him, just a shame his UFC debut ended with him on the wrong end of a highlight reel submission. As a Wandy fan, I appreciated Chapolin walking out to ‘Sandstorm’ as well. Warm fuzzy memories of Thai clinch demolitions and face stomping.

Donte Johnson made short work of Eric McConico. Didn’t take him long to iron him out.

Poor ref ate a stray elbow there for his troubles as well 🤣 nothing else really to say about this. My only other thought watching it was why couldn’t Johnson have done this to Sedriques Dumas when they fought instead of subbing him?

Didn’t pay enough attention to the Tresean Gore vs Vicente Luque fight but it was Gore’s best win of his career to date by far. Even with Luque not being the same fighter, in my opinion, since the brain injury. Because he can’t be can he? Gore losing a couple of teeth from Luque’s knee was grim stuff. Gore indeed.

Neil Magny once again refuses to fuck off. What an absolute trooper. 39 years old, shit ton of miles on the clock, takes on anyone the matchmakers throw at him and here he is again putting a whooping on a younger guy after surviving everything he could dish out.

I think I said in the opening post that Brahimaj was the kind of level of opposition Magny can usually still beat so it wasn’t a surprise that he won in itself. But you’ve got to respect the man’s durability and gameness to still go out there and finish some of these guys who, in theory, should probably be beating him at this stage.

Jeremiah Wells pulled off a hell of a win over Myktybek Orolbai in the Fight Pass curtain jerker. Apparently he was the biggest betting underdog on the card and Orolbai seemed to be cruising to a decision going into that last round. Then Wells pulls out the ninja choke deep into the third and puts Orolbai to sleep.

Mad stuff. Not sure why this fight was as far down the card as the opening prelim in the first place. Imagine if this was the main card opener or even the featured prelim before the main card started? Wasn’t a barnburner of a fight as a whole but that finish deserved more eyeballs.

Oh yeah, one last thing. Thought this was interesting.

The fact they showed him on camera during a big card, with his name on screen and everything, all but confirms they’ve got Usman signed and locked in doesn’t it? I’m expecting his UFC debut to be announced for that Abu Dhabi PPV in October any day now.

Edited August 21 by wandshogun09