Featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski returned to his natural weight class and decimated the interim titlist in style, after Dricus du Plessis’ division-altering display at middleweight and Alexandre Pantoja overcame adversity against a familiar face as a new world champion was crowned in the co-main.
Volkanovski leaves no doubt against Rodriguez
R3, 4:19 – Alexander Volkanovski (c) bt. Yair Rodriguez (ic) via TKO (punches)
- 33-year-old Australian makes dominant fifth title defence with fantastic finish against long-reigning contender and now-former interim champion
- He now has the second-most title fight wins in UFC featherweight history (6), only recent Hall of Fame inductee Jose Aldo has more all-time
- “Through camp, there was a bit of fear there – knowing how dangerous his striking was, but this week I flipped the switch. I’m the king of this division, we came and did our thing. The sky’s the limit, I’m here now but will be in the gym busting my ass again next week,” Volk says in Octagon interview
- On what’s next in his future: “There’s a few options, I’ll make sure I stay fit while in recovery… I want that lightweight belt, who’s next? If it’s Ilia [Topuria], I’ll squash him too,” revealing he needs arm surgery after an undisclosed issue flared up during this most recent training camp
Five months removed from his spirited effort to become a two-weight world champion, Alexander Volkanovski had business awaiting his attention at 145lbs.
Pitted against now-interim champion Yair Rodriguez, he was – once again – relinquishing physical advantages against a devastating striker in El Pantera.
Rodriguez wasn’t afraid to flash his kicks early, though the champion caught one coming in and secured a quick takedown before pressing him towards the cage, landing ground strikes and keeping him uncomfortable. Then, he turned him sideways and pinned the 30-year-old there – as you could hear former women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena scream instructions for the challenger.
He threatened an arm-triangle choke in the final minute of R1, imposing his will effectively while silencing a Mexico-centric crowd in the process.
They were stirring again early in the second as Rodriguez threw more unpredictable kicks, while maintaining distance where possible – it didn’t last, as they exchanged punches up against the fence and Volkanovski secured a beautiful trip.
Dragging him to the mat and stopping him from getting much rhythm as he tried to secure getups, Daniel Cormier waxed lyrical about the champion’s wrestling tactics and how his efforts were chipping away at the challenger through ten minutes.
Rodriguez got stern warnings heading into R3, from his corner to be more urgent and then referee Herb Dean for persistent illegal fouls (fence grabs, fingers in the glove).
Volkanovski nodded in acknowledgement after eating a high and body kick combo, the challenger starting to open up more and jostling with the risks that arrived.
Right on cue, he had a bit of success with another kick flurry which caught the champion’s attention but that made him susceptible to the storm coming back seconds later. A perfectly-placed right hook rocked him backwards towards the fence, at which point Volkanovski saw an opening and wasn’t going to relent.
He landed a big knee and some body shots before dumping the challenger on the mat with another well-executed takedown, racing into top position and raining down unanswered strikes. It wasn’t long before Herb Dean stopped the furious onslaught.
“Your skills made me train hard, I knew this was a tough one, you’re very dangerous,” you could hear the champion tell Rodriguez after essentially rendering his best assets useless for three rounds. A fitting end to a card packed with surprises.
Pantoja makes it 3-0 against Moreno, his biggest win yet
- “Moreno evolved so much, didn’t expect one tough guy like this but I worked so hard the last two years, moved my family over to America, been working with American Top Team, you proud of me now dad?” Pantoja’s passionate Octagon interview, touching on the fact he was raised by a single mum
- 33-year-old, nicknamed The Cannibal, admits he thought Moreno was done after scoring a R1 knockdown and having such success early… but instead their contest evolved into an instant Fight of the Year contender
46-49, 48-47, 48-47: Alexandre Pantoja [2] bt. Brandon Moreno [c], becomes the new UFC flyweight champion
It didn’t look likely during a drastic adrenaline dump in round two, but Alexandre Pantoja held his nerve in uncharted waters when he needed to.
It means he’s now recorded a third win over Brandon Moreno, the now-former two-time flyweight champion, realising his own dream with some vicious counterpunching and excellent fight management in the championship rounds.
After a false fast start by the Brazilian, they engaged in the clinch against the fence as referee Jason Herzog warned them to be active, they did exactly that off the break.
Pantoja dropped him with a counter left hand, before landing slicing elbows in the crucifix position. His punch combos were too fast for Moreno to defend intelligently, walking him down with dangerous intent.
Moreno’s corner stressed the challenger had unloaded the tank already and judging by how Pantoja’s feet were laterally, it looked exactly like that.
The crowd were loving it, as Moreno rocked him backwards briefly with a series of long jabs – momentum shifting without warning as the champ looked sharper.
Pantoja was read the riot act by his cornermen before round three and rightly so, having allowed the crowd to get rowdy in Moreno’s favour while not exactly exuding much defensive responsibility during their stand-up exchanges.
After a 20-second break for an accidental knee shot to the groin, Pantoja flipped him onto the ground and threatened a rear-naked choke – how he beat the Mexican back in August 2016 – however Moreno handfought through danger well to avoid giving up any further opportunities before reversing the position, returning to his feet.
A pair of high kicks landed flush for the champion, before Pantoja’s persistence with takedowns paid off as he got the fight down to the mat once more and landed nasty elbows from bottom position too.
An admittedly closer round, Pantoja was good value for a 2-1 lead through 15 minutes and it grew as he entered the fourth for the first time in his 16-year career.
He boxed furiously at mid and long-range, elbowing his way into a takedown as his counters were continuing to catch Moreno clean when timed well.
As a graphic showed he landed a new personal-best four takedowns, the Brazilian’s grappling stifled Moreno’s momentum at precisely the time he needed more output.
A passionate war cry came from both corners before the final stanza, Moreno being told he needed to push the pace – easier said than done – against a familiar face that was already tagging him clean here and found his second wind.
Just as quickly as Moreno popped him with the jab, Pantoja scored a timely takedown and pinned the champion against the cage before getting to back control, as the crowd unsurprisingly booed in response. It mattered not.
Alexandre looked physically cooked in round two but was able to steady himself, when it looked like he would suffer the same fate as compatriot Figueiredo did twice before, to reel off a massive win just as he promised.
Dricus rips the script, stops Whittaker
R2, 2:23 – Dricus du Plessis [5] bt. Robert Whittaker [2] via TKO (punches)
- du Plessis is now tied for the most finishes since 2020 at 185lbs alongside Brendan Allen and Gerald Meerschaert after biggest career win yet against former champion Robert Whittaker, expected to get UFC 293 title shot
- “I told you I have cardio for days, I wanted to rush but we all know I have a problem with that… just had to stay calm, I saw the fight with Cannonier – with all of them – it’s different when they go southpaw, I saw the beginning of the end,” DDP says, having praised decision for nasal surgery in April
- “I wished to be like Whittaker, he’s a gentleman and humble man, a guy in the pound-for-pound rankings!” he continues in Octagon interview as middleweight champion Israel Adesanya enters the Octagon for a face-off and their racially-aggravated tensions surrounding Africa resume
Well, who expected that?
Probably no-one besides du Plessis and the man he so emphatically toppled in former champion Robert Whittaker, the division’s perennial #1 contender.
Adesanya was 1A, Bobby Knuckles 1B, and that’s how it’s been over the past half-decade. du Plessis said he knew the size of the task at hand, but doesn’t everyone?
Executing it the way he managed, is a completely different task entirely – better fighters have fallen short.
R1 was competitive for large periods, but du Plessis finished it strong as their physical discrepancies were apparent. His mythical new superpower was ridiculed in the build-up to this fight, but no more on the basis of such a showing here.
Having historically suffered with cardio issues, he had nose surgery to fix his breathing and made a point of discussing that post-fight.
He stunned Whittaker with a straight right hand, froze him on the spot with counters, knocked him down and picked his punches well when it would’ve been easy to get overexcited like at times against Darren Till last year.
Instead, he landed body shots and unloaded unanswered flurries as Whittaker was unresponsive in a defensive shell, everyone stunned at what they were witnessing.
Hooker-Turner and Bo’s quick night
Dan Hooker had lost four of his last five fights, looking bemused and defensively irresponsible, clearly needing a break before the spiral became too much to bare.
Then after a short-lived featherweight return was emphatically ended by Arnold Allen in London 16 months ago, he returned to lightweight and scored a second-round TKO win over Claudio Puelles last November. The Hangman needed it.
Here, he was fighting a dangerous contender who had a five-fight win streak snapped via split decision against another ranked opponent just four months earlier.
Hooker already had four UFC fights, including one against Yair Rodriguez, before Turner even made his professional debut in 2016.
That’s probably why he spoke openly praising Turner’s future as the older guy, wanting to have his hair a crimson red colour, laughing after a back-and-forth battle he had no right to win – yet he did, and could’ve finished it in round two to boot.
What’s next, who knows. Turner was brilliant at times and drastically flat in other spots while Hooker was hospital-bound and can’t rely on stubborn durability during firefights if he’s to defend that ranking or potentially fight up again in future.
Bo Nickal was set to face Tresean Gore, who withdrew days before the event after tearing a ligament in his wrist. Up stepped UFC debutant Valentine Woodburn on short-notice, slated to fight on Dana White’s Contender Series at the end of August.
So much for Nickal’s nasty ground game being on display, this lasted just 38 seconds and ultimately proved just a stand-up exchange – Woodburn engaging at the wrong time, then being hit so hard he couldn’t mask the after-effects as Nickal sent him crashing in no time. Far from ideal circumstances, sure, but a step-up is needed.
Prelim, early prelim results
Prelims
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler bt. Niko Price via R1 KO (punches)
Catchweight (130lbs): Tatsuro Taira bt. Edgar Chairez via UD (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Women’s Strawweight: Denise Gomes bt. Yazmin Jauregui via R1 TKO (punches)
Light-heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield bt. Jimmy Crute via R2 sub (guillotine choke)
Early prelims
Light-heavy: Vitor Petrino bt. Marcin Prachnio via R3 submission (arm-triangle choke)
Bantamweight: Cameron Saaiman bt. Terrence Mitchell via R1 TKO (punches)
Flyweight: Jesus Santos Aguilar bt. Shannon Ross via R1 KO (punch)
Lightweight: Esteban Ribovics bt. Kamuela Kirk via UD (29-28 x 3)
Picture source: Getty Images
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