Islam Makhachev’s Lone UFC Loss Revisited

Islam Makhachev will enter UFC 330 with a chance to add another major chapter to a career that has moved far beyond its earliest setback. The source material says Makhachev is scheduled to make the first defense of his welterweight title against Ian Machado Garry in Saturday’s main event. It is a notably different position from the one he occupied 11 years earlier, when a 23-year-old Makhachev was beginning his UFC run and absorbed the first loss of his career.

That defeat came against Adriano Martins, and it remains Makhachev’s only UFC loss according to the supplied report. Martins stopped Makhachev with a counter right hand at UFC 192, a result that sharply contrasts with Makhachev’s subsequent rise. The report places the bout on the preliminary card of Daniel Cormier’s fight with Alexander Gustafsson. Makhachev had opened his UFC career with a debut victory over Leo Kuntz and was known at that stage as Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teammate. The Martins fight therefore stands as a clear early turning point in the chronology: a sudden defeat for a newcomer whose later accomplishments have changed how that night is viewed.

A counter changed Makhachev’s early UFC story

Makhachev’s meeting with Martins was not presented as a title fight or a late-career crossroads at the time. Martins was a Brazilian grappler who was four fights into his UFC tenure, with his only previous UFC defeat having come against Donald Cerrone. Makhachev, meanwhile, had just arrived in the promotion and had announced himself with the win over Kuntz. Their matchup at UFC 192 gave Martins an opportunity against a young Dagestani prospect, while Makhachev was looking to build on a successful debut.

The decisive moment was a large counter right hand from Martins. The source says the punch put Makhachev almost to sleep and handed him the first defeat of his career. That detail matters because it defines the loss as a specific finishing sequence rather than a prolonged tactical reversal. It also supplies important context for the present moment: Makhachev’s upcoming welterweight title defense is taking place after he set the lightweight record for the most title defenses in that division’s history, according to the report. The supplied material further says a win over Machado Garry would give Makhachev the chance to separate himself from Anderson Silva for the longest win streak ever. The article does not provide the number of wins in that streak, but it clearly frames UFC 330 as an opportunity with historical significance.

What happened after Islam Makhachev lost

The report contrasts Makhachev’s recovery with Martins’ difficult run after their fight. Martins did not compete again for more than a year, then lost a split decision to Leonardo Santos at UFC 204 in Manchester, England. Nearly another year later, he lost by third-round knockout to Kajan Johnson on the UFC 215 undercard and was released by the UFC after that result. His post-UFC run included a 2018 loss in Russia to Alexander Shabily, followed by three winless fights in Brazil that left his record at 28-11, as stated in the source material. Martins later took three years away from competition to focus on training and life in Brazil. He returned in March 2024 against Donovan Desmae, initially losing a decision before that result was overturned later the same night because the scores had been calculated incorrectly. The correction did not produce a victory for Martins. The source also says he later returned to Russia and lost a decision to Alexander Sarnavskiy, a 53-fight veteran. Martins has not announced retirement, although the report says he appears to have slowed down his competition schedule. For Makhachev, the relevance of the old loss is not that it altered the destination described by the source, but that it remains the lone exception in his UFC record. The early knockout is an established part of his story heading into a championship main event, while the reported achievements at lightweight and the move to defend at welterweight show how far the career has progressed from UFC 192.

• At UFC 192, Adriano Martins stopped Islam Makhachev with a counter right hand, handing Makhachev his first career loss.
• At UFC 330, Islam Makhachev is scheduled to defend his welterweight title against Ian Machado Garry in the main event.

Islam Makhachev’s loss to Martins remains a striking early image because it was so different from the position he now holds. The supplied report does not erase that night; instead, it places it within a longer timeline that leads to UFC 330. Makhachev’s next confirmed task is clear: a welterweight title defense against Machado Garry, with the report also identifying a chance to move beyond Anderson Silva in the longest-win-streak discussion.

Sources: Bloody Elbow