Photo: AP
MMA

UFC 266: Alexander Volkanovski Survives All-Out Brawl Against Brian Ortega, Defends Featherweight Title

By Fight Sports

Alexander Volkanovski still reigns as the featherweight king, but Brian Ortega made sure he battled for it.

Volkanovski (23-1) retained his crown by defeating Brian Ortega (15-2) via unanimous decision in the headlining featherweight clash of UFC 266 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

On September 25, UFC 266 took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The headlining of the event was a featherweight clash between current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and former title challenger and #2 ranked featherweight contender Brian Ortega.

It could be dubbed one of the most spectacular fights of the year.

Volkanovski dominated for the whole game, but Ortega, title challenger and No. 2 ranked featherweight contender, had his moments too. In the third round, Ortega caught Volkanovski’s low kick and landed a massive cross. As soon as he dropped the champion, he went for a guillotine choke, but he could not finish the attempt.

After that, in the following round, Ortega tried for a triangle choke, but Volkanovski defended from that submission. Volkanovski escaped from those attempts, but Ortega was close to finishing the fight, but the tiredness and damage did not allow him to finish the submissions.

Judges scored that fight 50-44, 49-46, 50-45.

Valentina Shevchenko (22-3) defended her title for seventh time in a row and this it was against Lauren Murphy (15-5) in the co-main event. As usual, she displayed and utilized her striking skills. The “Bullet” has a nickname for a reason.

Shevchenko was way faster than Murphy. Finally, after dominating for 3 rounds, she finished her rival via TKO in the 4th round.

The unofficial main event of the evening was a clash between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler.

The fight was scheduled in the welterweight division, but Diaz asked for middleweight, and just a few days before the fight, they moved up by one division. Diaz came back to the octagon after six years and still had some striking skills.

In the third round, Lawler landed considerable punches to the body and face. Diaz tried to challenge Lawler on the ground, but he did not want to continue the fight on Diaz’s field.

Diaz could not manage to stand up, and the referee stopped the fight. Lawler was avenged for his loss, and now it is 1-1 between them.

Curtis Blades (15-3) dominated for the whole three rounds and earned important victories in his career. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (12-3) had his moment when he landed a huge knee, but was not close to finishing the fight.

Fans witnessed an exhilarating comeback by Georgian fighter Merab Dvalishvili (14-4) against marlon Moraes (23-9-1).

Dvalishvili started fighting aggressively and was landing many one to two combinations. Moraes landed a colossal left cross in the exchanges and was close to finishing the fight, dropping Merab several times, but Dvalishvili didn’t waver.

The Georgian fighter survived, landed a huge takedown. Just a few seconds before the second-round bell, he finishes Brazilian with massive ground and pound.

Here’s all the results from UFC 266:

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