The rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev was always going to be explosive.

The main event of UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi went just as expected as the lightweight champion ran it back against the featherweight champ in a rematch of their Fight of the Year candidate earlier this year. Instead of a five-round war, however, Makhachev ended the fight early with a stunning head-kick KO to end any doubt about who is the better fighter between the two.

In the co-main event, Kamaru Usman survived the first round against Islam Makhachev in their middleweight matchup, but Makhachev clearly dominated Usman after taking him down early and controlling the former welterweight champion. All three judges scored the first round 10-8 in Chimaev’s favor. The second round started slow with both Chimaev and Usman keeping the fight on the feet. But Usman was able to land the cleaner shots and won the round on two of the judges’ scorecards. Usman also won the third round on two of the scorecards, but it wasn’t enough after the drubbing in the first round and Chimaev would go on to win a majority decision.

The pivotal light heavyweight showdown between Johnny Walker and Magomed Ankalaev ended in a no-contest and a bit of chaos after Ankalaev landed an illegal knee on Walker, who was grounded at the time. The referee stopped the fight to allow Walker time to recover, but after the doctor examined him the fight was called off. Walker wasn’t happy with that decision and tried to rush Ankalev, but it was too late. UFC CEO Dana White entered the Octagon and had to calm Walker down before the official result was announced.

The main card started off hot with two first-round finishes. In the PPV opener, Said Nurmagomedov put Muin Gafurov to sleep with a guillotine choke 73 seconds into their bantamweight tilt. Then, Ikram Aliskerov needed only 2:07 to finish Warlley Alves with an incredible flying knee and some follow-up strikes after the Brazilian had slumped to the canvas.

Here's how the entire card unfolded:

UFC 294 main card results, highlights

• Lightweight championship: Islam Makhachev def. Alexander Volkanovski via KO (head kick) at 3:06
• Middleweight: Khamzat Chimaev def. Kamaru Usman by majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)
• Light heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker ends in a no-contest (unintentional foul) at 3:13 of R1
• Middleweight: Ikram Aliskerov def. Warlley Alves by TKO (knee, punches) at 2:07 of R1:

• Bantamweight: Said Nurmagomedov def. Muin Gafurov by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:13 of R1:

UFC 294 prelims full results, highlights

• Flyweight: Muhammad Mokaev def. Tim Elliott by submission (head-and-arm choke) at 3:03 of R3
• Lightweight: Trevor Peek def. Mohammad Yahya by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Bantamweight: Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry ends in no-contest (accidental low blow) at 0:15 of R2
• Middleweight: Sedriques Dumas def. Abu Azaitar by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Lightweight: Mike Breeden def. Anshul Jubli by KO (punches) at 3:00 of R3:

• Featherweight: Muhammad Naimov def. Nathanial Wood by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Women's strawweight: Viktoriia Dudakova def. Jinh Yu Frey by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Middleweight: Shara Magomedov def. Bruno Silva by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)