3 years ago
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LAS VEGAS — Alexander Volkanovski defended his featherweight rubric with a bloody, tumultuous unanimous determination implicit Brian Ortega, and Valentina Shevchenko defended her flyweight loop with a fourth-round stoppage of Lauren Murphy astatine UFC 266 connected Saturday night.
Nick Diaz besides mislaid his archetypal mixed martial arts combat successful astir 7 years, declining to spell connected aft Robbie Lawler knocked him down with punches aboriginal successful the 3rd circular astatine T-Mobile Arena.
Volkanovski (23-1) dominated the scorecards — 49-46, 50-45 and 50-44 — successful his 20th consecutive victory, but the Australian inactive had to past an bonzer situation from the relentless Ortega (15-2), who didn’t discontinue contempt a bloodied look and a intelligibly damaged nose. Volkanovski survived a spectacular 3rd circular successful which some fighters appeared to beryllium moments from finishing the other.
“I thought I was successful his head, and past helium came backmost adjacent stronger,” Volkanovski said. “Credit to him. … It’s conscionable preparation. I’m a mean quality being. Hard enactment got maine to wherever I am. Everyone tin bash what I’ve done.”
Volkanovski mostly controlled the archetypal 2 rounds with his accustomed awesome enactment complaint and striking, but a bloodied Ortega knocked him down dramatically with a near manus successful the 3rd round.
Ortega pounced and astir finished the champ with a guillotine choke, but Volkanovski willed his mode retired of it and got backmost connected apical — lone for Ortega to flight and to trap Volkanovski successful a triangle choke that the champ besides hardly escaped.
Ortega was allowed to proceed aft a sojourn from the ringside doc contempt his seemingly breached nose. In the fourth, Ortega got different takedown and astir landed different choke, but Volkanovski gave a thumbs-up to the referee earlier escaping and finishing the circular raining blows down connected a prone Ortega, whose look was bloodied again.
Volkanovski finished the 5th circular strong, and some fighters received aggregate lasting ovations.
“I thought helium was done,” Ortega said. “I was trying to spell for his head, but he’s pugnacious arsenic hell. I tried to decorativeness him. I heard him gargling, but helium slipped out. He’s the champ for a reason.”
Shevchenko (22-3) cemented her presumption arsenic 1 of MMA’s astir ascendant champions with her eighth consecutive triumph implicit the past 4 years, including six stoppages. The champion from Kyrgyzstan steadily wore down Murphy (15-5) implicit the archetypal 3 rounds earlier stunning Murphy with a close hook and past battering her crossed the cage and onto the canvas, wherever she finished with punches and elbows connected the ground.
The 38-year-old Murphy had won 5 consecutive bouts since July 2018 to gain the archetypal UFC rubric changeable of her late-blooming MMA career. Yet she was small much than a pugnacious sparring lucifer for Shevchenko, who hasn’t mislaid to anyone successful the past 11 years, but two-belt champion Amanda Nunes.
The raucous Vegas assemblage cheered the loudest for Diaz (26-10), a wildly fashionable 38-year-old combatant who walked distant from the athletics successful aboriginal 2015.
In his return, Diaz traded a precocious measurement of strikes with Lawler (29-15) for 2 breathtaking rounds during his instrumentality astatine T-Mobile Arena. But Diaz past crumpled awkwardly to his knees aft Lawler caught him with a cheque close hook aboriginal successful the third.
Diaz rolled onto his backmost erstwhile Lawler deed him again with a near hand, but Lawler declined to spell to the crushed with Diaz, alternatively gesturing astatine him to get up. The referee past spoke to Diaz, who indicated helium wouldn’t oregon couldn’t spell connected 44 seconds into the 3rd round.
Afterward, Diaz disclosed helium mightiness person injured his knee, but made nary excuses oregon apologies for his show successful his return.
“I’m gladsome astatine slightest I enactment connected a show,” Diaz said. “I knew I had it coming. There was a batch of accent coming into this one. … I don’t person immoderate excuses. It was a agelong clip off.”
The 39-year-old Lawler ended his ain four-fight losing streak by winning the rematch of these MMA pioneers’ famed 2004 gathering astatine UFC 47. Diaz stopped Lawler successful that bout for 1 of his astir memorable victories.
Lawler appeared to beryllium overmuch sharper successful the rematch than Diaz, who yet recovered a striking bushed precocious successful the archetypal circular earlier tiring successful the second.
“It was a amusive fight, and that’s the worldly I similar to do,” Lawler said.
Diaz is simply a erstwhile Strikeforce welterweight champion and a beloved MMA iconoclast who competed successful immoderate of the astir memorable bouts of the 2000s earlier walking distant from the athletics aft his nonaccomplishment successful January 2015 to Anderson Silva, his 3rd consecutive defeat.
Diaz inactive claims helium doesn’t bask MMA competition, and helium backed up his words by refusing the UFC’s lucrative offers for six years. His lack lone boosted his popularity among fans who adore his antiauthoritarian attitudes and tough-guy image.
Lawler is besides a seasoned with a decorated career, including a stint arsenic the UFC’s welterweight champion from 2014-16. Lawler had faded successful caller years, losing 5 of six bouts heading into this rematch with Diaz.
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