Friday, April 19

Alex Volkanovski puts on a clinic in UFC 273 win over Korean Zombie


He promised we’d see a better version of him than we’d ever witnessed – and Alex Volkanovski delivered again.

It was a four-round seminar and, as he has done previously, Volkanovski urged his fellow 145lbers to “get your shit together”, string together some wins and challenge him.

Volkanovski will likely have his trilogy fight with Max Holloway first but, should he get past the former champion for the third time, it’s unclear who, if anyone, can come near one of Australia’s greatest ever combat sports heroes.

UFC 273 results

3:10pm AEST/ 1:10am ET

Fight: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chan Sung Jung

Pre-fight record: Alexander Volkanovski (23-1 MMA, 10-0 UFC), Chan Sung Jung (17-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC)

Official result: Alexander Volkanovski def. Chan Sung Jung via TKO (punches) – Round 4, 0:45

Round 1: Zombie has the centre of the Octagon early, with Volkanovski circling on the outside, left to right. Zombie is eating some big shots early, with Volk’s left jab and inside leg kick looking dangerous. Zombie’s right eye is telling the story of the speed discrepancy between the two, looking red and bruised already. Still, Zombie just need one shot. 

Round 2: Volkanovski continues on his way, with Zombie seemingly keeping his hands low to protect against the leg kicks, leaving an opening. BIG SHOT! zombie wears a huge shot but Korean Zombie wears it, what a chin! Zombie immediately counters before a takedown from Volkanovski. Once they’re back to their feet, Zombie continues to press but a step behind.

Round 3: Volkanovski continues, picking off the Zombie with a combination of jabs, body shots and the occasional takedown attempt. Volkanoski floors Zombie and, despite the Korean’s insane durability, he’s only a 50/50 chance to answer the call for the fourth round.

Round 4: Boom! It’s all over 45 seconds in to the fourth after a 1-2 punch combo that went almost undefended. Herb Dean has seen enough and calls it off – yet Zombie is still on his feet! What a performance from Volkanovski and excellent refereeing from Dean.

2:55pm AEST/ 12:55pm ET: UFC fans in two tweets.

2:50pm AEST/ 12:50pm ET

Fight: Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan

Pre-Fight Record: Aljamain Sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC), Petr Yan (16-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC)

Official result: Aljamain Sterling def. Petr Yan via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)

Round 1. Pro-Russian chanting in Florida. Ok. both fighters spend round 1 finding their distance with leg kicks, with Ya stalking and Sterling circling on the outside. No real action but they trade until the bell.

Round 2: Ya’ll like ground game? No…guys? Sterling dominating from the opening of round 2, grabbing Yan’s back early, with RNCs, body triangles and kimora all being stifled – just! – by Yan. It’s taxing stuff: how will this affect the former champ in the later rounds? This is a very, very different fight from the first. That could be a 10-8 round. Depending on where you are in the world, you may be getting some exceptionally colourful from Sterling’s corner in-between rounds. What colour. What vocabulary.

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Round 3: Booing continues. It’s all body triangle from Sterling Yan rolls and gets flattened out for a few seconds, but rolls back over again. Sterling maintains the body lock and back position until the round concludes.

Round 4: Despite it being Aljo’s domain, Yan gets top position and doesn’t relinquish it to get the fight back to the feet. Can’t let aljo take your back if he’s underneath, potentially, but the BJJ black belt can also submit fighters off his own back. This is Yan’s round but, probably, he’ll need a finish to get the belt back – especially with that possible 10-8 in round 2 from Sterling. Sterling’s corner is giving instructions that sound dangerously like, “fire truck him cup”.

Round 5. Yan’s scramble defence holds up and, despite the rivalry, there’s a mutual respect at the end of the fight. Yan somehow seemed to grow after the round 2 clinic put on by Sterling..but, damn: that round 2 was nasty. Yan out-strikes Sterling, 51-43.

NOTE: No judge gave a 10-8 to Sterling in round 2, although Sterling won rounds 2 and 3 10-9 on all three cards.

2:03pm AEST/ 12:03am ET

Fight: Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Pre-Fight Records: Gilbert Burns (20-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC), Khamzat Chimaev (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC)

Official result: Khamzat Chimaev def. Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Round 1: Everyone breathe. How is this fight third on the bill? Excellent chance that we’ll be all tuckered out come time for Volk’s title defence. Anywho, Burns’ boxing is beyond crisp but the counters are flying from both sides early on. A heck of a way to start this fi— the round isn’t over! Burns gets dropped with a jab, cops hammerfists and is split open: game on.

Round 2: That could have been Burns’ round and the first round in Chimaev’s UFC career that he’s lost. Incredible. Burns’ teeing off on Chimaev, Chimaev jabbing his way around and through Burns’ defences but, somehow, they last until the bell. Get out your wallet, Dana: you’ve just seen the FOTN. Check this lunacy:

Round 3: Round 3 took off where he round 2 finished. Hands being traded at a frenetic pace and zero chance of the fight going to the round. Burns is ranked #2 and Chimaev #11 but that means absolutely nothing. They take it all the way until the end and…?It could be either man. What a fight, what a pleasure to watch it live.

1:29pm AEST/ 11:29pm ET. Is anyone playing this game? Tomorrow will be horrible for you.

1:22pm AEST/ 11:22pm ET

Fight: Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres

Pre-Fight Records: Mackenzie Dern (11-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), Tecia Torres (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC)

Official result: Mackenzie Dern def. Tecia Torres via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

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Round 1: Dern is the aggressor early and, despite Dern’s huge advantage on the ground, the entirety of the first frame is spent on the feet. Torres is picking her spots and making solid work of Dern’s lead leg.

Round 2: This is more what we expected: Dern all over Torres like the cheapest of court appearance suits. Yet Torres showed amazing grit to hold out. Kimora, arm bar and a leg lock. Sheesh

Round 3: They go the distance with Torres turning the tide in the third with a heel kick off the ground and some looping overhand rights. No wonder the decision took so long, Dern the clear aggressor in round 2, Torres in round 3.

12:55pm AEST/ 10:55pm ET: The 2016 Fight of the Year just earned a place in the fight wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. A real Where Where You When fight between Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi.

12:47pm AEST/ 10:47pm ET

Fight: Mark Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel

Pre-Fight Records: Mark Madsen (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), Vinc Pichel (14-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC)

Official Result: Mark Madsen def. Vinc Pichel via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Close your eyes and imagine what a fight involving a three-time greco-roman wrestler involves. That’s probably close to what just happened, with Madsen remaining perfect after a wrestle-centric three rounds.

Sure, people booed, but what did they expect? Joe Rogan had a slightly spicier, if similar take.

There was huge early support from the circus strongman enthusiasts sub-section of the UFC crowd, with Pichel finding range early with a calf kick and jab. 

If that reference makes no sense, my mistake – but also check out Pichel’s ‘stache.

12:18pm AEST/10:18pm ET Look good, feel good: The Champ is in the building.

MAIN EVENT TIME

12:03pm AEST/ 10:03pm ET: Garry stays perfect. Ian Garry def. Darian Weeks via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27). CCC didn’t mis his opportunity for some sass, either.

11:46am AEST/ 9:37pm ET: We’re onto the feature bout of the prelims with hype machine Ian Garry ready to trade hands with Darian Weeks. Garry, 8-0 and fighting out of Dublin, Ireland, is drawing comparisons – relentlessly, mercilessly – to Mystic Mac but we’ll have to see how that ends up.

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11:40am AEST/ 9:30 pm ET: Before we hit the feature bout of the prelims it’s be remiss not to share the love on this ultimate piece of sportsmanship. Warhorse Aleksei Oleinik went backstage after submitting Jared Vanderaa and immediately showed his felled opponent how it all went down.

11:37am AEST/9:37pm ET: Welcome to another episode of Incredible Ways To Spend A Weekend: UFC Edition. It’s been a big 48 hours for combat sports already but, with the main card mere minutes away, the intensity is about to go up a notch. SN will be here with you for the entirety of the main event. Let’s do a quick recap of what’s happened so far in the prelims.

Official Result: Ian Garry def. Darian Weeks via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Official Result: Anthony Hernandez def. Josh Fremd via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Official Result – Raquel Pennington defeats Aspen Ladd via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Official Result – Mike Malott defeats Mickey Gall via TKO (strikes) at 3:41 of the first round

Official Result – Aleksei Oleinik defeats Jared Vanderaa via submission (neck crank) at 3:39 of the first round

Official Result – Piera Rodriguez defeats Kay Hansen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Official Result – Julio Arce defeats Daniel Santos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

If you’re more of a visual type, cop this from Mike Malott. Devastating.

UFC 273 official scorecards

Click the button above to expand the list of scorecards on Twitter.

Where is UFC 273?

UFC 273 will be taking place inside the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Alexander Volkanovski record, bio 

  • Nationality: Australian
  • Born: Sept. 29, 1988
  • Height: 5-6
  • Reach: 71 inches
  • Total fights: 24
  • Record: 23-1 (11 KOs)

‘The Korean Zombie’ record, bio 

  • Nationality: South Korean
  • Born: March 17, 1987
  • Height: 5-9 
  • Reach: 72 inches
  • Total fights: 23
  • Record: 17-6 (six KOs)

Aljamain Sterling record, bio

  • Nationality: American
  • Born: July 31, 1989
  • Height: 5-7
  • Reach: 71 inches
  • Total fights: 23
  • Record: 20-3 (two KOs)

Petr Yan record, bio

  • Nationality: Russian
  • Born: Feb. 11, 1993
  • Height: 5-7 
  • Reach: 67 inches
  • Total fights: 18 
  • Record: 16-2 (seven KOs)

UFC 273 fight card

Main card: 12pm AEST

  • UFC Featherweight Title: Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung
  • UFC Bantamweight Title: Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Petr Yan
  • Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev; welterweights
  • Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres; strawweights
  • Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov; middleweights 

Prelims: From 8am AEST

  • Irene Aldana vs. Aspen Ladd; bantamweights
  • Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks; welterweights
  • Dricus du Plessis vs. Chris Curtis; middleweights
  • Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura; heavyweights
  • Albert Duraev vs. Anthony Hernandez; middleweights
  • Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott; welterweights 
  • Gavin Tucker vs. Pat Sabatini; featherweights  
  • Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos; bantamweights  
  • Mark Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel; lightweights  
  • Piera Rodriguez vs. Kay Hansen; strawweights



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