The Russian defeated veteran Dustin Poirier with a fifth-round submission to defend his UFC lightweight belt in the USA.

Islam Makhachev held on to his lightweight belt, getting Dustin Poirier to tap out in the fifth round of their main event bout at UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey.

Entering the fifth round on Saturday night, the Russian was sporting a substantial forehead cut as a result of repeated takedowns by Poirer, 35, in the third and fourth rounds.

But it was Makhachev (26-1-0) who turned the tables on Poirer, winning by submission at 2:42 of the final round and has now prevailed in 14 straight UFC fights, a streak that started with a victory over Chris Wade on September 17, 2016.

Meanwhile, Poirier (30-9-0) has alternated wins and losses over his past six fights. Post-match, the American hinted he might retire from the UFC.

Saturday marked the third time Makhachev successfully defended his title.

In other action, Sean Strickland (29-6-0) downed Paulo Costa (14-4-0) by split decision in a middleweight bout, with the cards reading 46-49, 50-45, 49-46. Kevin Holland (26-11-0) also prevailed in a middleweight fight, defeating Michal Oleksiejczuk (19-8-0) by submission just 1:34 into the first round.

Niko Price (16-7-0) and Randy Brown (19-5-0), two welterweights, also won their respective fights. Price and Brown both won by unanimous decision.