Alexander Volkov won the striking battle with Waldo Cortes-Acosta over three rounds tonight at UFC 328.

Round One

Glancing inside leg kick from Volkov. Now one from Cortes-Acosta and then an outside leg kick from Volkov.

Punch and then a couple of low kicks for Volkov. He lands it again. Cortes-Acosta throws his own.

Volkov attempts a high kick then goes back to the inside leg kick. A couple more low kicks lands and then Cortes-Acosta pursues him while unleashing a series of punches, but he doesn’t land anything significant.

Volkov with a punch. Cortes-Acosta lands a punch to the midsection. Calf kick for Volkov, and doubles up on it.

WCA trying to close the distance with more urgency, but not able to track down Volkov yet. Volkov lands a body kick.

Jab lands for Cortes-Acosta. Left hook gets through for WCA now and a glancing right too.

Leg kicks exchanged. Cortes-Acosta lunging into his jabs now to try to close the distance. Low kick from Volkov again. He fires up a high kick, but WCA blocks it.

Round Two

Body kick for Volkov. Right hand from WCA. He lands his jab. Volkov ducks under a right hand. Outside leg kick for Volkov. WCA lands a body punch and Volkov feels out with a jab.

Right hand for Cortes-Acosta and a body kick from Volkov. Inside leg kick for him. Now a teep kick. Inside leg kick. High kick attempt from the Russian is blocked.

WCA with a few low kicks. Volkov misses on a head kick, but then lands a short combination of punches.

Inside leg kick for Volkov. WCA tries to flurry, but doesn’t find his range. Cortes-Acosta loads up on a right hand.

Glancing left hook from Volkov and then lands a solid jab that wobbles Cortes-Acosta. He gets his bearings back quickly though as Volkov stays patient rather than going in for the kill.

Thigh kick from Cortes-Acosta. Body kick from Volkov. Head kick from Volkov glances the target.

Back to the low kick for Volkov. Thigh kick from Cortes-Acosta. Body kick for Volkov. Left hand gets through for WCA. Jab from Volkov. Now a low kick that disrupted Cortes-Acosta’s balance for a moment.

Round Three

Body kick for Volkov. He probes with a high kick attempt. WCA misses on a kick attempt.

Cortes-Acosta fires off a one-two and then looks to follow-up, but there’s an eye-poke in there that gives Volkov a brief time-out.

Right hands from Cortes-Acosta as they restart. Volkov bleeding from the nose now. Volkov lands a solid jab.

Low kick for Volkov. Body kick from Volkov, but WCA counters with a right hand. Now a jab from Cortes-Acosta.

Right hand over the top and then a left from WCA. Volkov lands a kick to the body.

Inside leg kick for Volkov, but then WCA looks to clinch up. Volkov walks him over to the cage and then they separate with Cortes-Acosta landing a knee to the body on the way out.

WCA applying pressure with 90 seconds to go. Good jab for Cortes-Acosta. Calf kick for Volkov. Jab for Volkov. Swing and a miss from WCA.

Front kick to the midsection from Volkov. Back to the calf kick. WCA tries to punch his way into range but comes up short.

WCA again tries to flurry. Another combination lands better, but Volkov stands up to it and we’re headed to the scorecards here.

Prediction

Volkov’s kicking game from range allowed him to get the better of the striking exchanges in the early rounds against Cortes-Acosta and also rocked him with a jab in the second round too, before surviving late pressure from his opponent to emerge with a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 29-28 x2).