Islam Makhachev left UFC 330 with a unanimous-decision victory over Ian Machado Garry, but the main-event discussion did not end with the official scorecards. A widely shared statistic from the final round showed that Makhachev landed zero significant strikes during the last five minutes. That number quickly became the focal point for fans debating how much weight should be given to control time when a fighter has not produced significant-strike output in a round.
The result itself was described as pretty uncontroversial in the source material, and Makhachev was credited with winning the fifth round on all three scorecards. Still, the closing frame created a clear contrast: Makhachev accumulated just over three minutes of control time while failing to land a significant strike, and Machado Garry landed only a few more significant strikes than Makhachev across the full 25 minutes. The debate was therefore not simply about a single statistic. It centered on what observers believed should decide a close round when one athlete controls position for extended stretches and the other lands the more visible offense.
Makhachev’s path to the decision
Makhachev established his usual wrestling approach early in Philadelphia. In the opening round, he landed a takedown and controlled Machado Garry on the ground for more than three minutes. Round two followed a similar pattern, though Makhachev added the biggest striking moment described in the report: a huge knockdown after landing a head kick. Those first two rounds supplied the foundation for the unanimous decision and showed that his performance was not defined solely by the late control-time controversy.
The fight changed in round three. Makhachev began to fade slightly, landed only one of his takedowns and logged 18 seconds of control time while Machado Garry outstruck him. Makhachev then found something of a second wind in the fourth, securing two of five takedown attempts. According to the source, that work narrowly gave him the round on two scorecards. The sequence matters because it shows why the online argument reached beyond round five: viewers had already seen a fight in which striking, takedown success and positional control varied considerably from round to round. Makhachev nevertheless secured the official unanimous decision and, with it, broke Anderson Silva’s record for the longest winning streak in UFC history.
Why the fifth round became the talking point
The source states that judging criteria prioritize damage, with control time and grappling coming after it. That framework informed criticism from some fans, who argued that control without meaningful damage should not automatically win a round. Others defended Makhachev by pointing to his dominant positioning and the difficulty of allowing an opponent to hold such control for long stretches. Neither side changed the official outcome, but the disagreement illustrates why the fifth-round statistic drew attention despite the decision being characterized as far from one of the year’s more controversial results. For Makhachev, the lasting confirmed news is twofold: he won the UFC 330 main event and moved past Silva’s winning-streak mark. The zero-significant-strike final round is an important part of how the bout was received, not a reversal of what happened on the scorecards. It placed his grappling control under a sharper spotlight while preserving the broader record-setting significance of the victory.
- Round one: Makhachev landed a takedown and controlled Machado Garry on the ground for more than three minutes.
- Round two: Makhachev continued the wrestling success and scored a huge knockdown with a head kick.
- Round five: Makhachev landed zero significant strikes but recorded just over three minutes of control time and won the round on all three scorecards.
| Fight segment | Confirmed detail |
|---|---|
| Round three | Makhachev landed one takedown, had 18 seconds of control time and was outstruck by Machado Garry. |
| Round four | Makhachev secured two of five takedown attempts and edged the round on two scorecards. |
| UFC 330 outcome | Makhachev defeated Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision and broke Anderson Silva’s UFC winning-streak record. |
Islam Makhachev’s UFC 330 win will be remembered both for its record implication and for the statistical argument it triggered. His early wrestling, second-round head-kick knockdown and late control produced the unanimous decision. Yet the final-round total of zero significant strikes ensured that fans continued to examine the difference between control and damage long after Makhachev’s hand was raised.
Sources: Bloody Elbow
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