Thanks for joining us for a breakfast of violence, a superb slate of action at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi this morning. Click here for a full wrap.
Khabib Nurmagomedov v Justin Gaethje - Nurmagomedov wins via second-round submission
Khabib announces that this will be his final fight, 'The Eagle' is retiring. Wow. His gloves have been placed in the middle of the Octagon, as per tradition.
The 32-year-old doesn't want to continue fighting without his father by his side. 29-0 it is, and the lightweight belt appears to be vacant and up for grabs.
Emotional scenes post-fight as Khabib collapses in tears in the centre of the Octagon, an outpouring for his father and mentor who died earlier this year. Gaethje all class, comes to the middle to console him.
Second round - Khabib comes out quickly, he is keen today. Pushing the pace again, as Gaethje circles away. Leg kick stings Khabib. Khabib straight to the takedown, swings immediately into full mount. Looks for the armbar then transitions to the triangle choke, there comes the tap! This is over! Unbelievable grappling from Khabib. 29-0.
First round - We are here fight fans! Long feeling out process here for both fighters. Khabib takes the centre. Gaethje counters a Kahbib right hand, both land well. Khabib works his jab, Gathje replies with a leg kick. Gathje repels the first takedown of many from Khabib, lands the left. Khabib just keeps coming forward, so much pressure. Khabib lands a knee on the way in, Gaethje continually circles away. Khabib looking sharp on the feet, jab working well. Big left hook from Gaethje. Gaethje scrambling, lands a jab but in comes Khabib with the double leg, and he's right into mount, immediately threatening with an armbar as the round closes. First round goes to the champ.
9:39am - Khabib joins the party, Buffer is into his intros. Let's do this.
9:35am - Gaethje makes his way to the middle of Flash Forum. Calm and collected, as per.
9:30am - Main event up next. Can Gaethje stun the MMA world and become the first man to defeat the Russian phenomenon?
Robert Whittaker v Jared Cannonier - Whittaker wins via unanimous decision
Who's ready for Adesanya v Whittaker II?
Awaiting the judges' decision here...Whittaker gets it 29-28 on all three scorecards.
Third round - Final round now, Cannonier likely needs a finish to win this fight. Whittaker just feasting on the jab, follows with a huge head kick! Cannonier stumbles, Whittaker unloads with punches from the top but Cannonier somehow survives. Whittaker going to work with his grappling now, moves into half guard, then full mount. Big shots from the top, now he has the back. Cannonier explodes and escapes to his feet, he's not ready to to give up. Cannonier has Whittaker clinched against the fence, he has to throw caution to the wind here as they separate. Whittaker happy to keep at range, Cannonier not settling and grabs his attention with a right. The pair clinch as the round and the fight closes, and Whittaker should earn a comfortable decision here.
Second round - Whittaker opens with a lead right hand. Cannonier switching stances plenty, but he's eating plenty of jabs. Whittaker closing the distance well, in and out of range with shots and negating Cannonier's reach advantage. Damage starting to show on Cannonier's right eye, which is clearly swollen. Whittaker conducting on the feet now, varying his shots to great effect, he's found his groove. Round closes, that's likely two in the bag for the Aussie.
First round - Buffer threw his all into those intros. Let's get this started. Cannonier takes the middle immediately and unloads a heavy leg kick. Whittaker pops the jab, eats another leg kick. Cannonier making his intentions clear, so much power in those kicks. Cannonier switches stance, goes right back to Whittaker's lead leg. The Aussie is starting to check them, wise move. Whittaker with a crisp straight right to head kick. More kicks land for Cannonier. Whittaker bouncing on the outside, doubles up on the jab. Pair of body kicks to close the round for Cannonier. Close round, but I think Whittaker can claim it.
9am - 'Bobby Knuckles' looking typically staunch and focused as he climbs the steps.
8:57am - Cannonier makes his way to the Octagon at Flash Forum. Not hard to see how this guy was once a heavyweight.
8:47am - The highly anticipated clash between Whittaker and Cannonier to decide Israel Adesanya's next challenger is up next, so stay tuned.
Alexander Volkov v Walt Harris - Volkov wins via second-round TKO
Second round - Harris fakes the takedown and goes upstairs early, shot just misses its mark. Volkov continues to stalk. Throws a front kick and Harris winces immediately, stumbles backwards and eats a few more follow up shots from Volkov, Game, set, match. What a beautiful finish, kick went right right to the bread basket.
First round - The big men are inside the Octagon. Volkov takes the middle quickly, looking to establish his reach advantage. The pair exchange some heavy hooks. Harris having some success with his straight right hand, landing plenty on the counter. Volkov using his feints well, getting off plenty of kicks. Volkov crowding Harris, huge right hand wobbles Harris! That hurt him badly, Volkov swoops with shots but Harris withstands and manages to circle away, holds on until the end of the round. Clear first round for 'Drago'.
8:18am - Now we move to heavyweight for Alexander Volkov v Walt Harris, then we'll be into the co-main event - Whittaker v Cannonier.
Jacob Malkoun v Phil Hawes - Hawes wins via first-round KO
First round - Hawes is on a three-fight streak here, coming off a 78-second KO in Dana White's Contender Series. Malkoun is a long-time sparring partner of Robert Whittaker, another new Anzac to take the UFC stage.
Hawes catches Malkoun behind the ear and wobbles the Aussie, swarms and unloads and this one is over! Unbelievable debut for the America, 18 seconds was all it took. Five straight finishes for 'Megatron'.
7:57am - Whittaker is inside Flash Forum and getting prepped. But first up will be his teammate Jacob Malkoun, who'll fight Phil Hawes next in his UFC debut.
Lauren Murphy v Liliya Shakirova - Murphy wins via second-round submission
Second round - Murphy landing some big shots now, doing work with her knees. Staying patient and stinging Shakirova regularly. Murphy scores a knockdown, takes the back and sinks in a rear-naked choke. This is deep, too depp for Shakirova who's forced to tap. First career win by submission for the American.
First round - Nice start for the American, picking her shots well.
7:35am - Shakirova - the first female UFC fighter from Uzbekistan - in on late notice to face the veteran Murphy, whose move to flyweight has rejuvenated her career, currently riding a three-fight win streak.
7:30am - Beautifully savage finish from Ankalaev. Light heavyweight has another contender on the rise with the Russian bomber.
Magomed Ankalaev v Ion Cutelaba - Ankalaev wins via first-round TKO
First round - First fight of the main card is underway, a rematch between these two and a chance to put some bad blood to bed. Ankalaev catches Cutelaba with a nasty one-two that drops him to the mat! Huge follow up shots switch off the lights and this one is over. Emphatic win for the Russian.
7:10am - Morning Kiwi fight fans! Great start to the day for the Anzacs, as Aussie Tai Tuivasa scores a first round KO win against Stefan Struve to snap his three-fight skid.
'Bam Bam' clearly benefited from his time at the renowned American Kickboxing Academy. He looked much trimmer and fought a lot smarter, using an effective clinch game to establish the upper hand over the towering Dutchman, before separating and slewing him down with a barrage of shots as the round ticked to a close.
Unfortunately the big man was left high and dry with his traditional post-win 'shooey', he had the shoe but there was not a beer in sight.
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We'll have all the live action from the main card from 7am, including Robert Whittaker's clash with Jared Cannonier to determine who will be the next challenger to Israel Adesanya's middleweight throne.
Betting odds:
Magomed Ankalaev - $1.28 Ion Cetalaba - $3.40
Lauren Murphy - $1.43 Liliya Shakirova - $2.65
Jacob Malkoun - $3.00 Phil Hawes - $1.35
Alexander Volkov - $1.55 Walt Harris - $2.35
Robert Whittaker - $1.92 Jared Cannonier - $1.79
Khabib Nurmagomedov - $1.28 Justin Gaethje - $3.40
Pre-fight banter
Khbabib close to 'GOAT' status - Dana White
By Ben Francis
UFC boss Dana White says Khabib Nurmagomedov is on track to become the greatest fighter in MMA history if beats Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on Sunday (NZ time).
Unbeaten lightweight champion Nurmagomedov faces American interim champion Gaethje in a unification bout on 'Fight Island' in Abu Dhabi.
Last month, White claimed Jon Jones - who is expected to fight Kiwi Israel Adesanya in 2021 - is the greatest fighter of all time, but Nurmagomedov is breathing down his neck.
Russian Nurmagomedov hasn't fought since September last year, but holds a 28-0 record, while Gaethje is 22-2.
"Khabib is looking down the barrel of being not only the greatest to ever do it in this division, but listen - if he beats Justin [Gaethje] he's the number-one pound-for-pound fighter in the world and he's looking at GOAT [greatest of all-time] status," said White.
Nurmagomedov downplayed any talks of being considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, and insists he's just focussed on beating Gaethje.
"Muhammad Ali is on a different level," says Nurmagomedov. "Mike Tyson is almost the same level, but the personality of Muhammad Ali is a different level.
"For me to become like this is a really hard question. When I was growing up, I knew this guy was the greatest.
"I don't know if I can ever become close to these people. I didn't have this goal, I just want to win my fights.
"But we'll see in the future, because I'm not finished yet.
"What's going to happen after I don't know. Right now, I'm focused on Justin Gaethje."
Both fighters made the 155 pounds (70kg) weight for the fight, with Nurmagomedov having to strip completely naked, needing the aid of a towel as he stepped onto the scales.
The fight is the co-main event for UFC 254, as the other main event bout sees former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker face American Jared Gannonier.
The Whittaker-Cannonier winner could be next for UFC middleweight champion Adesanya.
Adesanya beat Whittaker last October in Melbourne to claim the middleweight title.
