Alexander Volkanovski became the new UFC featherweight champion of the world tonight with a convincing unanimous decision victory over Max Holloway in which he used striking rather than wrestling to end the ‘Blessed’ era.
Round One:
Leg kick for Volkanovski. Glancing jab from Holloway then lands it cleaner. Leg kick for Volkanovski again.
Holloway taking the center of the cage. Leg kick for him. now a fencer-like punch to the body. Leg kick for Volkanovski.
Nice one-two from Volkanovski. He tries to land again, but Holloway slides out of reach. Solid punch lands for Volkanovski.
Low leg kick for Volkanovski. He starts throwing hands again, but not finding the mark this time. Holloway tries to land, but Volkanovski is throwing hard when he does so.
leg kick for Volkanovski. Hard right hand for Holloway. Glancing left for Holloway. Heavy leg kick from Volkanovski. Left hand lands for the challenger.
Volkanovski swings for the fences and misses and Holloway pretends like that hurt and they both laugh. Then Holloway lands a hard leg kick.
Punch connects for Volkanovski. Right hand for Holloway. The champion misses a punch and Volkanovski almost connects on the counter.
They are speaking to each other in there and then Volkanovski tries to go for a takedown against the cage, but nothing doing and they soon separate.
Volkanovski pumping out the jab. Flurry of punches from Volkanovski, but Holloway moves away. Into the clinch they go and Volkanovski was thinking a takedown there, but the horn sounds before he can execute it.
Round Two:
Leg kick for Volkanovski. Now one to the inside of the leg. He lands it again. Solid body punch for Holloway.
Another leg kick for the challenger. One-two for Holloway. Another inside leg kick from Volkanovski and Holloway went off-balance a little from that one.
Another inside leg kick and punches behind it. Holloway lands a leg kick of his own.
Heavy punches from Volkanovski miss, but the leg kick lands again. He connects with it again. And again s Holloway misses with punches.
Another punishing leg kick and Holloway’s leg is all reddened up on both the inside and outside.
Overhand right for Holloway. He’s not been landing with the kind of frequency that we’d usually expect from him.
Volkanovski misses with a spinning backfist attempt. Straight punches from Holloway, but not landing cleanly.
Nice right hand from Holloway and a left behind it. Another kick from Volkanovski as Holloway switches stance.
Another straight punch gets through for Holloway. He pieces together a nice combo. Low leg kick for Volkanovski.
jab connects for Holloway. Now a series of jabs from Holloway land well. A left gets through too now. Inside leg kick for Volkanovski and a counter punch from Holloway. One final leg kick for the challenge.
Round Three:
Holloway steps away from Volkanovski’s early offense. Right hand for Volkanovski. Back to the leg kick.
Volkanovski comes up short with a punch and Holloway lands one of his own on the counter. Oblique kick for the champion. Push kick for Volkanovski.
Low kick for Volkanovski. Oblique kick for Blessed again. Uppercut for Holloway, but he eats a counter punch.
Volkanovski catches a kick and lands a solid punch off it. Kick and then a punch for the challenger.
jab for Holloway. left hook for Volkanovski. Low inside leg kick from Volkanovski. Jab for Holloway. Leg kick for Volkanovski.
Crisp left hand lands for Volkanovski. Holloway tries for a knee upstairs. Holloway picks out a jab. Leg kicks for Volkanovski.
Another low kick. It connects again. Very hard knee to the body from Holloway as Volkanovski steps in and that definitely hurt.
Spinning kick to the body from Holloway. Holloway starting to get fired up here and he lands a body kick towards the end of the round.
Round Four:
A few punches miss for Volanovski, but the leg kicks land again. Now a solid right hand from Volkanovski gets through.
Leg kick and then a right hand from Volkanovski and Holloway landed a punch in thhere too. Jabs for Holloway. One lands for Volkanovski.
Volkanovski charges into a takedown for practically the first time in the fight and Holloway stuffs that nicely.
Back to striking range. Punch to the body and a kick from Holloway. Punch lands for Volkanovski. Nice punch from Holloway snaps Volkanovski’s head back.
Leg kick for Volkanovski. Right and connects for the challenger. Double jab for Holloway. Big uppercut counter from Holloway.
Jab lands for Holloway. Inside leg kick from Volkanovski. Holloway lands a punch. Few punches to the head from Holloway and then one to the body. Leg kick again from Volkanovski.
Another body punch from Holloway. Holloway trying to stalk him, but Volkanovski still landing the leg kicks.
Heavy exchange and both men ate big punches there with Holloway perhaps getting the better of it.
Hard body kick for Holloway towards the end of the round. The champion was starting to gain momentum there, but does he need a finish here.
Round Five
Oblique kick for Holloway. Inside leg kick for Volkanovski. Jab for Holloway. Head kick attempt from Volkanovski.
Solid body punch from Holloway and then another one. He lands it again as Volkanovski lands his leg kick. He gets it again.
Grazing punch from Holloway and a solid punch in return from Volkanovski.
nice left hand from Volkanovski but Holloway counters with a good punch to the body. Another solid punch to the body for the champion and again he lands.
Solid punch to the body and then a body kick for Holloway. Left hand gets through for Volkanovski. Jab for Holloway. Kicks for Volkanovski.
Inside leg kick for Volkanovski. Volkanovski clinching up looking for a takedown, but settles for pressing the champion up against the cage.
Holloway gets back to the center of the cage. less than two minutes remaining. Nice body strike for Volkanovski. left hand gets through for Holloway.
Holloway motioning Volkanovski on now. Volkanovski tries for a takedown then lands a punch instead. Holloway firing back. Volanovski trying for the takedown again and doesn’t get it. Nice strike on the breakaway from Holloway.
Holloway targets the body again. Short flurry from Volkanovski. Short left hook from Holloway. Volkanovski clinches up. Holloway reverses the position and unloads a few punches and then tries for a jumping spin kick and it doesn’t land and instead sends him off-balance as the round ends and the fight goes to the scoreacards.
Decision:
Great performance from the challenger Volkanovski here, particularly with his constant leg kicks and power punching that kept the champion from finding his rhythm until late in the fight, and it’s official, the UFC has a new featherweight champion – Volkanovski wins by unanimous decision (48-47 x2, 50-45).
