On a main card full of question marks and asterisks, Islam Makhachev delivered an exclamation point.
In the main event of UFC 280, the 31-year-old Dagestani finished off Charles Oliveira with an arm-triangle choke after hurting him badly with a right hook in the middle of Round 2. As eye-opening as it was to see the UFC’s all-time leader in submission wins tapping out—it was Oliveira’s first submission loss at lightweight in nearly 12 years—it was just as instructive to see the ease with which Makhachev shrugged off the former champ’s arsenal.