Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski delivered a second-round technical knockout win over Movsar Evloev at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, retaining his featherweight title in seriously impressive fashion. It was the main event, and man, did “The Great” show up.
Volkanovski Puts on a Masterclass Against Undefeated Evloev
Dude, the first round was tight, evenly matched, you know? But then Volkanovski just flipped a switch in the second. He started to really impose his will and then, bam, he finished Evloev in the closing seconds of the round with a relentless ground-and-pound attack. Talk about a statement!
ESPN had the stats, and they tell the story: Volkanovski landed 45 of his 109 attempted strikes and took Evloev down once on two tries. Evloev, who was coming in undefeated with a ton of hype and momentum, connected on 37 of his 88 strikes and managed to take Volkanovski down three times on seven attempts. But at the end of the day, Volkanovski controlled that second round when it mattered most, ending Evloev’s night early. This win wasn’t just another notch on his belt, it’s gotta be one of his best. To beat an undefeated prospect like that at 38 years old? That’s just rare, plain and simple.
The “Send-Off” Superfight That Could Cement a Legacy
MMA History Today on X didn’t waste any time, calling this a historic TKO and making a bold declaration about where Volkanovski now stands among the featherweight division’s all-time greats. And they’re right! Typically, the smaller divisions are owned by the young guns, but Volkanovski, approaching 40, just keeps proving he’s the best.
His time at featherweight might be winding down though, because “The Great” has his sights set on something bigger. He’s talking about a potential lightweight title fight. Imagine that! “Imagine that, do it as a send-off,” Volkanovski told the “Who Da Fook Are These Guys?” podcast, as reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN. He’s eyeing a superfight with Gaethje. “Gaethje, Volk. I think he’s said that he maybe has one more. That could be a superfight. Let’s do a superfight with the lightweight title on the line. We can both see everyone off with a crazy superfight. That could be really good.” He’s come up short before in his quest for a second belt, losing two fights against Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title. But he knows Gaethje is a much different stylistic matchup, and this could be his shot to finally make that dream of holding two belts a reality. An impressive win over Evloev combined with a lightweight title fight? That’s how you drive an already incredible legacy even further.
So what’s next for “The Great”? Everyone’s buzzing about that potential superfight. If he can pull off a lightweight title win, especially against a guy like Gaethje, that would be absolutely insane for his legacy. It’s going to be wild to see how this plays out!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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