Makhachev capped his ascent to the lightweight throne with a brilliant win by arm triangle choke against Brazilian Oliveira, the holder of the UFC record for submission wins with 16.
Oliveira was stripped of the lightweight belt in May when he missed the weight for his title clash with Justin Gaethje and though he beat the American the title remained vacant, setting up the showdown with Russian Makhachev.
After spending much of the first round defending and trying to threaten with submissions off his back, Oliveira tried to keep the fight on the feet in the second round.
That tactic looked like it was paying off until he was decked by a punch from Makhachev, who wasted no time jumping on his opponent, locking in the choke and forcing the tap for Oliveira.
Makhachev dedicated the win to his late coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who died in 2020, saying: “Many years ago he told me just train hard and I will be champion”, before handing the belt to Khabib Nurmagomedov who took over from his father as the Russian’s coach and is himself a former UFC lightweight champion.
