UFC Snubs Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev to Deliver FOTM Award to a Major Five-Round War

When you think of Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev, the keyword might just be ‘snubbed’. That’s right, the UFC has declared their October Fight of The Month honoree and it’s neither of the two Russian fighters. It’s someone entirely different.

Perhaps it has to do with the card changes that went down early on. It’s either that or the UFC was just not impressed by the performances put up by both of the fighters at UFC 294. That being said, Edson Barboza may have done it all to earn the honors for his fight. Here’s the story.

Khamzat Chimaev and Islam Makhachev snubbed

Edson Barboza penned a great comeback story inside the Octagon last month. At UFC Fight Night 230, he looked absolutely brilliant, barring the very first round of his fight against Sodiq Yusuff. The first round was highly favorable to Yusuff who barreled Barboza around the cage.

However, over the next rounds, Barboza was dominant. In fact, he very nearly knocked out Yusuff in the third round. With a spinning wheel kick, Barboza made Yusuff fall to his knees. Later, he would win via a unanimous decision, all of that after staying out of the fight game for a year.

Does this truly compare to either Chimaev or Makhachev? Perhaps it could have, but the changes may have stowed the two fights far away from the honor. It was still entertaining. Well, you could say that for at least Chimaev’s battle against Kamaru Usman.

However, for Makhachev, it wasn’t as much. The fighter delivered a spectacular first-round knockout against Alexander Volkanovki with a brilliant head kick that staggered ‘The Great’. A barrage of fists later, ‘Volk’ was out cold. The fight didn’t last long and so, perhaps that was the reason it was snubbed. But what about Chimaev vs. Usman?

Was Chimaev vs. Usman a better candidate for FOTM?

The fight happened after Paulo Costa had to pull out due to an elbow injury. Kamaru Usman accepted the fight and moved on to middleweight to contest the Chechen. Khamzat Chimaev had a scary look in his eyes at the ring of the bell that is perhaps immortalized in memes and social media images now.

Also Read: Khamzat Chimaev Is Going to Have a Tough Time in UFC’s Middleweight Division

Few expected the fight to go the distance, but it did. For most of the first round, Chimaev remained dominant and Usman looked like he was on the defensive. ‘Borz’ chased around ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ and tried to get him into a choke. However, the former champion came back strong in the later rounds, unlike anyone had expected.

The fight could have been the honoree of Fight of The Month but alas, it looks like Edson Barboza will take the pride happily. Do you think the award choice is reasonable? Which fight would you have picked for the honors? Let us know in the comments.

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