Khabib Nurmagomedov returned to action tonight at UFC 242 for the first time since mauling Conor Mcgregor and the ugly scenes that followed.
The Russian saw off Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi to retain his lightweight belt and a perfect record of 28-0-0.
Despite oddly entering the arena to Beyoncé, not that I'm questioning a man who grew up fighting bears, The Eagle executed a trademark takedown inside two minutes, sucking the life out of Poirier with a chokehold. He survived the round.
Poirier hit back in round two landing a big right hand, but it wasn't long before Khabib had his opponent trading skin with the cage wall. 2-0 Khabib.
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And then the inevitable came inside round three. Khabib, seemingly beginning the round in trouble, flicked a switch and finished Poirier off with a choke hold. 28-0-0, goodnight. Can this man be beaten?
In his post-fight comments, Khabib promised to donate money raised from the auctioning of a t-shirt - that Poirier gave to him - to the fighter's charity of choice. You've got to respect the guy for this.
The night also saw Paul Felder defeat Edson Barboza by split decision, which was roundly met by boos from the crowd.
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Also fighting out of Khabib's camp was Islam Makhachev, the man who Dana White previously said would never fight again after the ugly scenes that followed the McGregor scrap.
In an interview following the fight, Dana White said: "The guys [Zubaira Tukhugov and Islam Makhachev] who jumped in will never fight here again." A dangerous move, one that saw Khabib threaten to quit the UFC.
It's no secret that fight fans were clinging on to the small hope that McGregor rocked up to the Octagon, which would have sent ructions around the UFC - and probably the jail cells of Abu Dhabi.
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The next best thing we can hope for is Conor U-turning on his decision to 'retire', if that's what you can call it, and go to war with Khabib - seeking redemption for being choked out by the man who simply cannot be defeated.
But on the basis of Khabib's post-fight comments, he would require McGregor to earn his chance if the fight were to ever happen again.
Featured Image Credit: PA