UFC 236 Live Results

Two interim champions will be crowned, with one man attempting to add his name to history books, as UFC 236 is presented tonight from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the main event, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway moves up a weight class and attempts to be the fourth fighter in promotion history to hold championships in two divisions at the same time — the first with one world title and one interim title. Holloway meets Dustin Poirier for the interim UFC lightweight championship.

This will be a rematch from their first encounter at UFC 143 in February 2012, when Holloway was just 20 and Poirier 23. Poirier scored a first-round submission over Holloway, improving to 12-1 at the time while Holloway, who was making his UFC debut, suffered the first loss of his then-young career.

After the loss, Holloway won three in a row before dropping back-to-back decisions to Dennis Bermudez and Conor McGregor. Since then, however, Holloway hasn’t looked back and has won 13 fights in a row, capturing the interim featherweight title at UFC 206 before unifying with Jose Aldo at UFC 212. Holloway has two defenses of the 145-pound title, defeating Aldo at UFC 218 and Brian Ortega at UFC 231.

Poirier, meanwhile, went 4-3 following the Holloway fight before moving back up to 155. Since then, Poirier has gone 8-1, with one No Contest. He is unbeaten in his last five bouts and has won three straight, featuring wins over Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez (the latest of which was a rematch of a bout that went to a No Contest).

In the UFC 236 co-main event, Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya square off to determine an interim middleweight champion. Gastelum was originally set to challenge champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 234, but Whittaker pulled out the day of the event due to a hernia. Adesanya defeated former longtime champion Anderson Silva in the replacement UFC 234 main event.

Since moving up to 185 in late 2016, Gastelum has dropped just one of his last five fights. He scored TKO victories over Tim Kennedy and Vitor Belfort (the latter changed to a No Contest after a failed post-fight drug test) before suffering a loss to Chris Weidman. Since then, however, Gastelum scored a first-round knockout of Michael Bisping and a decision win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.

Since leaving GLORY Kickboxing and transitioning full-time to MMA, Adesanya has been one of the sport’s biggest breakout fighters. Making his UFC debut at UFC 221 last year, Adesanya has run through the five men he’s faced thus far — Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson and Silva — en route to his first title shot in a major MMA promotion.

UFC 236 Main Card (10 p.m., ESPN+ PPV):
For the interim UFC lightweight championship: Dustin Poirier def. (featherweight champion) Max Holloway via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
For the interim UFC middleweight championship: Israel Adesanya def. Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46)
Light Heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Jr. def. Eryk Anders via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Welterweight: Dwight Grant def. Alan Jouban via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Light Heavyweight: Nikita Krylov def. Ovince Saint Preux via submission (rear-naked choke) (Rd. 2, 2:30)

UFC 236 Preliminary Card (8 p.m., ESPN):
Lightweight: Matt Frevola def. Jalin Turner via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja def. Wilson Reis via TKO (Rd. 1, 2:58)
Welterweight: Max Griffin def. Zelim Imadaev via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)
Bantamweight: Khalid Taha def. Boston Salmon via TKO (Rd. 1, 0:25)

UFC 236 Early Prelim Card (6:15 p.m., ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass):
Welterweight: Belal Muhammad def. Curtis Millender via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 30-26)
Bantamweight: Montel Jackson def. Andre Soukhamthath via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-27)
Women’s Flyweight: Poliana Botelho def. Lauren Mueller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,  29-28)
Bantamweight: Brandon Davis def. Randy Costa via submission (rear-naked choke) (Rd. 2, 1:12)