Alexander Volkanovski has once again defended his featherweight title with a second victory over Diego Lopes, claiming a unanimous decision result in front of his home crowd in Sydney.
Adding to his legacy as one of the UFC’s greatest-ever fighters at 145 pounds, Volkanovski proved to be too well-rounded for his Brazilian counterpart.
Coming into this bout, Volkanovski was ranked the No.5 Pound-for-Pound fighter, and his latest win means the Aussie superstar now has bested Lopes twice, Max Holloway three times and a host of other fighters including Brian Ortega.
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His record now sits at 28-4, with Volkanovski celebrating in the final stages while sitting on top of his opponent — sparking raucous applause from those in attendance at Qudos Bank Arena.
Volkanovski has now also tied Jose Aldo’s record of eight title wins in the featherweight division.
The first five minutes saw both fighters feeling each other out, shooting several punches and leg kicks — although the Aussie veteran looked to be on top.
The second round was “very close” according to Daniel Cormier, with Volkanovski coming desperately close to securing a guillotine choke.
Next came more dancing around the octagon, until Volkanovski landed a strong overhand right which left his opponent reeling, although he remained on his feet.
Halfway through the fourth round Volkanovski had two more significant strikes despite throwing 30 fewer total than Lopes (96 versus 94).
He also caught Lopes below the belt in the fourth period, with the Brazilian forced to catch his breath leaning against the octagon.
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Then to close out the fight, Volkanovski reversed Lopes into the cage, grappling to secure an impressive win in front of his home crowd.
“Technical brilliance from Volkanovski,” Michael Bisping said, while Jon Anik labelled the performance “vintage”.
“To do it here in Sydney… it ain’t getting any easier, I can tell you that. Camp, there was a lot of things going on there,” Volkanovski said.
“I wanted to take him out, I wanted to take a hold of him and put him out. I didn’t want to stand for 25 minutes, but we got the job done.
“I almost had my moment in Perth, but I got my moment here in Sydney.”
Daniel Cormier asked the champion how he was able to dominate more in his second fight with Lopes than the first.
“We were ready for him to make the right adjustments… when they are doing the right stuff, I make ajdustments,” he said.
“That’s what makes a true champion, honestly. You’ve got guys where are talented, got all the stuff. But it’s everyone who has the grit, determination, hard work, discipline, sacrifices, make the adjustments on the fly, stay composed under fire, I have got them all.
“I wouldn’t have done it without those skills and I wouldn’t have done it without you Sydney.”
As for who is next, Volkanovski highlighted a potential bout between Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy — with the winner potentially being a challenger.
Volk hypes crowd with hilarious moment | 00:31
HOOKER DEMOLISHED IN UGLY DEFEAT
Earlier in the co-main event, France’s Benoît Saint Denis silenced the Sydney crowd with a second round TKO demolition against New Zealand’s Dan Hooker labelled a “pure domination”.
The damaging No.8 lightweight contender is set to climb the rankings following his latest win, adding to an impressive resume that includes wins over Beneil Dariush, Mauricio Ruffy, and Matt Frevola.
The first round saw Hooker deliver several kicks to a ducking Saint Denis, but in the second the Frenchmen gained the ascendancy.
In the grapple, he delivered a wave of brutal elbows before a submission attempt almost finished the fight.
“Hooker is in a lot of trouble here… he is going to tap,” Daniel Cormier said, but the Kiwi managed to fight his way through the submission attempt.
“Now he’s got a little space to breathe… it’s so tight.”
To close out the second round, the elbows began once again before the ground and pound ended the fight.
“Pure domination,” Jon Anik said of Saint Denis’ performance.
“Living up to his billing as the most violent force in the game.”
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SALKILLD’S RAPID RISE ROLLS ON
Meanwhile, Quillan Salkilld confirmed himself as the next big thing of Australia combat sports – needing only a tick over three minutes to earn a $25,000 UFC performance bonus against countryman Jamie Mullarkey.
Just a year after lighting up the same Sydney venue for his UFC debut, 26-year-old Sakilld is now urging UFC bosses to give him an opponent in the top 15 after earning his fourth straight Octagon win.
Despite many predicting the all-Australian showdown would be a war — including Salkilled — the hyped Perth phenom dropped Mullarkey midway through the first round and quickly sunk in a rear naked choke.
It was inside Qudos Bank Arena a year ago that Salkilld announced himself to UFC fans in sensational fashion, finishing Anshul Jubli in just 19 seconds.
The Aussie then completed an outstanding UFC rookie year by also scoring a highlight reel headkick finish of Nasrat Haqparast in October, again in the first round, with a decision win over Yanal Ashmouz in between.
Asked afterwards about thinking the showdown with an always game Mullarkey would be a war, Salkilld said: “Man, I always contradict myself.
“Sometimes it ends up nice and simple in the first round.”
But as for grappling being his game plan for this one?
1st round! Salkilld seals the deal | 00:32
“Not necessarily,” he told the UFC’s Daniel Cormier. “The game plan was to come in and fight. People forget grappling is my strong suit. So if people want to grapple with me, shame on them.”
The quick finish capped off what had already been a strong undercard for Aussie fighters, with victories in the preliminaries for Dom Mar Fan, Kaan Ofli, Jonathan Micallef, Jacob Malkoun and Cam Rowston.
Early on, it was Melbourne’s Jono Micallef who went and finished the greatest feud of UFC 325 fight week in sensational style – choking rival Oban Elliott, aka the Welsh gangster, unconscious.
‘I just wing it!’ Salkilld’s tactic | 02:36
As revealed by Fox Sports Australia, Micallef and Elliott had enjoyed a wonderfully heated Octagon build, which included exchanging words during a fiery confrontation at the UFC fighter hotel.
Elliott even suggested Micallef was left “s****ing his pants” during their run-in, while also accusing the Aussie of talking “f***ing nonsense” ever since their initial bout slated for Perth last year was canned due to him getting pneumonia.
However, in the second round of an entertaining scrap, it was Micallef who took his rival down, took his back, sunk a choke, then squeezed, and squeezed …. and squeeeeezed.
At which point, Elliott went out.
The finish ended a strong showing for the breakout Melburnian, who remains undefeated in the Octagon after also upsetting Kevin Jousset at UFC 312 in Sydney last year.
Asked inside the cage afterwards how he felt, ‘The Captain’ told Daniel Cormier: “Incredible. There’s nothing like it DC.
Ruffy finishes Fiziev with epic flurry | 00:36
“The captain is on the streets and cleaning up all the gangsters.”
Micallef then called out UFC veteran Neil Magny, who only last September beat Australia’s Jake Matthews.
“Neil Magny, nothing but respect brother,” The Captain said. “But I’d love to punch you in the head.”
Elsewhere on the undercard, Sydney middleweight Jacob Malkoun was congratulated by Bulldogs star Stephen Crichton and head coach Cameron Ciraldo after returning from two years out with injury to earn a huge win.
Malkoun, who doubles as an NRL wrestling coach for the Doggies, earned a convincing decision win over jacked American Torrez Finney, taking all three scorecards: 30-27, 30-26, 30-26.
“I felt a bit of ring rust after two years off, few injuries,” Malkoun said afterwards. “But it was a dominant performance … f*** yeah.”
RUFFY’S STATEMENT VICTORY
Brazil’s Mauricio Ruffy has delivered a statement performance against Rafael Fiziev, unleashing an ugly barrage to secure a second round TKO win.
The pair were trading blows until the second round, when Ruffy could the man hailing from Azerbaijan before capitalising on his chance.
He rained down with punches as Fiziev attempted to duck and slide out of the way — but he couldn’t do anything to stop the barrage which earned a stoppage.
“The referee had no choice, what a performance,” Michael Bisping said.
Ruffy is now set to shoot up the lightweight rankings, having spent his latest camp training alongside Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski.
“The training camp was very hard for me here, but I got through it and it paid off,” he said.
“A message to Dane, how about everybody that I can fight right now? I am ready to put on a show.”
The adopted Australian then delivered an Aussie, Aussie, Aussie chant before he left the octagon.
Micallef brutally puts Elliott to sleep! | 00:32
AUSSIE COPS UGLY KNEE
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Keiichiro Nakamura delivered a sizzling knee to Aussie Sebastian Szalay, knocking him out in front of his home crowd in the third round.
The pair were fighting in the early prelims, the second bout of the day on the card after Lawrence Lui grabbed a split decision victory earlier.
Szalay and Nakamura came together in the clinch in the closing stages of their fight, with the Japanese fighter slipping out before landing the huge knee.
“That’s a fight ending sequence,” the commentator said.
Referee Herb Dean quickly stopped Nakamura from inflicting more damage to his opponent on the ground.
Meanwhile, Aussie Dom Mar Fan also won the Road to UFC lightweight title with a win over South Korea’s Sangwook Kim.
He now wins a spot in the UFC lightweight division.
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