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