Makhachev was greeted by loud cheers as he made his walkout and made a statement in the first round as he took Machado Garry down at the first attempt.
The Irishman defended on the ground admirably, but it was a sign of things to come as Makhachev controlled the rest of the round with the challenger trapped against the side of the cage.
Makhachev’s dominance continued into the second round as he knocked Machado Garry down with a head kick, before slamming the dazzled Irishman to the canvas.
Again Machado Garry survived until the end of the round and although he found some success with a number of kicks midway through the fight, Makhachev continued to assert control when the pair grappled.
Machado Garry bloodied Makhachev’s face with some punches in the clinch, but the Russian shrugged it off to reach the final bell ahead in a number of key stats.
He secured seven unanswered takedowns and clocked over 12 minutes of control time to Machado Garry’s 34 seconds.
Although the Irishman landed 29 significant strikes to Makhachev’s 22, it was not enough to convince the judges of the win.
In a show of respect, the pair embraced before Machado Garry raised Makhachev’s arm in victory.
“To all my fans, Ireland, everybody, I’m sorry I couldn’t get this done,” said Machado Garry.
“But I stand here as a man proud of what I’ve done, proud of where I came from and proud where this will take me. To all the fans who doubt me, I’ll be back.”
At 28, Machado Garry has plenty of time to realise his dream of becoming a UFC champion, while Makhachev’s victory adds weight to claims he’s closing in on being regarded as the greatest UFC fighter of all time.
