Volkanovski ends Evloev's run – and now holds the record alone with nine title wins
The 38-year-old survived three takedowns in round one and stopped the unbeaten Russian six seconds before the end of round two. Retirement is not on his mind for now.
Archive image · Photo: MMAnytt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Alexander Volkanovski handed Movsar Evloev the first defeat of his career at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. According to The National, Evloev took the featherweight champion down three times in the first round, but Volkanovski got back up each time. In round two an uppercut and a straight left rocked the Russian, and referee Mark Goddard stopped the fight on ground strikes at 4:54. ESPN stats cited by Bleacher Report had Volkanovski landing 45 of 109 strikes and Evloev 37 of 88.
With his ninth win in a featherweight title fight, the Australian passed José Aldo, according to CBS Sports, and equalled Aldo's UFC record for title defences in the division. Evloev, who had won all ten of his UFC fights, is now 20-1.
"I said if I didn't take too much damage we probably will keep going, so maybe we keep going!" Volkanovski said after the fight. For his first stoppage win in three years he earned a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus.