Alexander Volkanovski retook the featherweight throne on Saturday evening, besting Diego Lopes within the UFC 314 headliner.
It was a giant first spherical from Volkanovski, who cracked Lopes with a vicious left hand that despatched Lopes stumbling again towards the cage wall. ‘The Nice’ used that as a possibility to shut the gap and muscle Lopes to the mat. Volkanovski completed the spherical dropping some nasty ground-and-pound pictures.
The chaos continued within the second stanza with each fighters getting rocked. Volkanovski caught Lopes early within the spherical with one other massive left that despatched Lopes stumbling again towards the cage wall. Nonetheless, with 10 seconds left within the spherical, Lopes landed a brutal proper hand that despatched Volkanovski crashing to the canvas.
Volkanovski popped proper again up and averted taking any additional injury earlier than the second spherical horn sounded.
The third was far more aggressive, however Volkanovski appeared to get the higher of the hanging exchanging, probably placing him up 3-0 going into the championship rounds.
Issues took an particularly loopy flip within the fourth spherical when Lopes landed an uppercut that caught Volkanovski on the attention. Volkanovski desperately retreated as Lopes desperately moved in searching for a home-run shot. Volkanovski in the end made it out of the spherical, revealing to his nook that his eyesight had been compromised as a result of blow.
Curiously, Volkanovski appeared to poke Lopes within the eye throughout a fifth-round alternate, however referee Marc Goddard pressured the struggle to proceed, calling it a authorized strike. Nonetheless, the commentators revealed through immediate replay that it was actually an eye fixed poke and never a punch.
With time ticking down, Lopes known as for the 2 to face within the middle and commerce. Volkanovski obliged, touchdown one other massive proper hand. Lopes tried to reply, however the clock ran out earlier than he might join.
Official End result: Alexander Volkanovski def. Diego Lopes through unanimous determination (48-47, 49-46, 48-47) to win the vacant UFC featherweight world championship.
Examine Out Highlights From Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes at UFC 314:
