Alexander Volkanovski raises bar in featherweight division, pound-for-pound rankings with Max Holloway shutout
LAS VEGAS — Alexander Volkanovski didn’t get into MMA as some kind of blue-chip, closely hyped prospect. After a profession as a 214-pound rugby participant, Volkanovski turned to combined martial arts with zero fanfare, worldwide or in Australia, the place he’s from.
He misplaced his fourth professional battle to Corey Nelson, now a crane operator in Sydney, in a welterweight bout.
A little bit greater than 9 years since that evening, Volkanovski is nearly on prime of the MMA world. He turned in one other sensible efficiency Saturday within the co-main occasion of UFC 276, essentially no-hitting the great Max Holloway.
The rivals met for the third time for the featherweight title Saturday after Volkanovski scored shut choice victories at UFC 245 in 2019 and UFC 251 in 2020.
This time, it was no contest nearly from the beginning. Volkanovski, at 5 inches shorter and with a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, was outboxing Holloway. He stated he thinks he broke his left hand within the second, however nobody who didn’t hear the discuss within the nook would have ever recognized it.
Holloway has dominated the featherweight division apart from Volkanovski. In his final 16 featherweight fights apart from these in opposition to Volkanovski, Holloway was 16-0 with 10 finishes. He’s clearly lapped the sphere within the division. However in opposition to Volkanovski on Saturday, he seemed like little greater than a WWE jobber and was crushed in one-sided and decisive vogue.
Secretariat gained the Triple Crown in 1973 by profitable the Belmont Stakes by an astounding 31 lengths. In combating phrases, Volkanovski is a minimum of that far forward of the featherweight area.
“He answered all of the questions from all the doubters tonight,” UFC president Dana White instructed Yahoo Sports activities. “He took that battle and he seemed unimaginable. It’s time for him to maneuver on and do no matter he needs to do subsequent. Does he wish to preserve defending that title? Does he wish to transfer up? No matter he needs to do, the world is open to him. Very spectacular what he did tonight.”
It was spectacular to say the least.
Volkanovski opened a cavernous lower over Holloway’s left eye and blood was oozing from his eye, his nostril and his mouth within the latter a part of the battle. One of many biggest and classiest fighters within the sport, Holloway landed little of consequence and couldn’t provide you with an assault that was even reasonably profitable.
Volkanovski is the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter on the UFC’s pound-for-pound checklist, however after that efficiency, it’s cheap to ask if he’s surpassed welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who sits at No. 1.
Usman has been equally dominant and has reeled off 19 consecutive wins.
However Volkanovski gained for the twenty first consecutive time on Saturday and gained his twelfth in a row within the UFC. No person has been near him apart from Holloway and it wasn’t a contest Saturday.
In his final six fights, he’s earned three victories over Holloway and one over Jose Aldo, the 2 males apart from himself who have been thought-about within the operating for the best featherweight in UFC historical past.
There isn’t any doubt about that now. Volkanovski is the person with out query and is shifting himself into the dialog as one of many biggest fighters ever. That’s a spot occupied by the likes of Jon Jones, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, but it surely’s laborious to disclaim Volkanovski’s entrance into that dialogue.
“To have three title battle wins over somebody like Max slightly than another man, in fact [that means more to me],” Volkanovski stated. “He was the No. 1 contender the entire time. He was thought-about the best featherweight of all time. That’s unimaginable for me. … They’re so much larger wins than your common protection.”
He’s largely been unchallenged in his total UFC profession. The second battle with Holloway was shut, however Volkanovski had some points. USADA drug testers woke up him 4 hours earlier than he was scheduled to get up. It threw him off and he was sluggish and never almost at his greatest within the battle. He took melatonin tablets to attempt to get again to sleep however the web consequence was that it made him really feel sluggish and out of kinds within the cage.
He gained the battle, largely by utilizing his wits, and instantly began to name for an additional battle with Holloway. He had one thing to show and on Saturday, show it he did.
“I used to be calling for the [third fight] as a result of I wished to indicate myself,” Volkanovski stated. “I do know I didn’t flip up [for the second Holloway fight].”
He floor his strategy to the highest. He believed in himself totally and by no means doubted, even when critics would. He kindly chastised two reporters on the post-fight information convention who he believed had doubted him previously.
He made himself right into a fighter and has simply saved bettering day after day. He fights typically — Saturday was his third battle in 9 months — and few, if any are higher on a constant foundation.
It was sufficient to amaze his new teammate, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who blew out Jared Cannonier in the main event in what he referred to as the worst efficiency of his profession.
“F***ing inspiring,” Adesanya stated of Volkanovski’s win. “I had a 5-nil shutout, too, however his was approach cooler and extra spectacular. … When he got here to CKB for this camp, he raised the bar for this camp.”
He’s definitely raised the bar for different 145-pound fighters, that’s for certain.
