In the main event of UFC 333, Alexander Volkanovski extended his second title reign by knocking out Movsar Evloev and handing him a first loss.
Although Evloev is known for his wrestling skills, featherweight great Volkanovski also struggled with the Russian’s underrated striking in the first two rounds.
But the Australian began applying greater pressure late in round two, loading up on his shots. And when he landed a left hook and right cross, Evloev turned away, covered up, and dropped to the mat.
“Alexander The Great” was eventually able to create enough distance to pour on ground and pound, forcing force the finish with six seconds left in the round.
With that, Evloev fell to 20-1, while Volkanovski grew his already impressive legacy, a month after turning 38 years old.
“Look he’s a great fighter, he is – was –undefeated for a reason,” Volkanovski said in the cage after his win. “I just said I’m the right guy for that job.
“But yeah, it feels good to get a finish. It was actually my wedding anniversary on Wednesday, so I promised my wife a quick one so she wasn’t stressing.
“I knew there wasn’t long [left in round two], and I was just looking for that one shot to really hurt him. I knew the ref would stop it when he covered up like that.”
Evloev, 32, added: “He’s like good wine: older, stronger, better. I’m grateful for this oportunity to be here, this is great learning.
“I didn’t prove that I’m the best – I’m not yet maybe, right? Maybe we’ll try again. I need to go home, take some rest, recover my injuries.”
In the co-main event in Abu Dhabi, Petr Yan rounded out his trilogy with Merab Dvalishvili by outpointing the Georgian for the second fight in a row. As such, the Russian retained the bantamweight title that he took from Dvalishvili last December, extending his second reign – just as Volkanovski did.
Yan had been outpointed by Dvalishvili in 2023, before reversing that result in a title fight 10 months ago, and Saturday’s clash was the best of all three. Yan emerged victorious on points again, this time needing to fight back from two rounds down to triumph 48-47, 48-47, 48-47.
Dvalishvili’s trademark wrestling brought him mixed success, with the Georgian taking down the Russian repeatedly at first but failing to keep him down. And as the fight wore on, Yan’s defensive wrestling only improved, while he began to visibly hurt his challenger with body work.
Ultimately, Yan’s striking proved the difference maker as he extended his second title reign and called out Song Yadong, who was ringside, among other contenders.