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(ALSO SEE: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Max Holloway, Kelvin Gastelum after UFC 236 losses?)
Fighters with two different types of journeys reached interim UFC champion status at UFC 236 when Dustin Poirier and Israel Adesanya claimed belt.
Poirier (25-5 MMA, 17-4 UFC) improved his record to 2-0 against Max Holloway (20-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) in the event headliner, which took place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, when he defeated the UFC featherweight champ by unanimous decision to win the interim lightweight championship. The co-main event, meanwhile, saw Adesanya (17-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) become the 10th unbeaten titleholder in company history when he beat Kelvin Gastelum (15-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) by unanimous decision for the interim 185-pound strap.
The common reasoning for interim title fights is because the champion is unavailable. They were legitimate this time around, though, because lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov (27-0 MMA, 11-0 UFC) and middleweight king Robert Whittaker (20-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) are both out of action until the second half of 2019.
Unification bouts of Poirier vs. Nurmagomedov and Adesanya vs. Whittaker appear to be on the horizon, and for the details of when and where those could happen, watch the video above.
For complete coverage of UFC 236, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
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