Heavyweight vet Alexander Volkov had a quick performance to return to the win column on Saturday night, stopping Jairzinho Rozenstruick in the first round of a main event fight.
Volkov’s win headlined a UFC “Fight Night” card from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
It didn’t take long for Volkov to close in on a victory.
Volkov first rocked Rozenstruick with a clean right cross to the head in the opening round. He then pounced on the rocked heavyweight, unloading with hook punches to the head as he shelled up against the cage.
Referee Herb Dean eventually stepped in to end the fight, giving Volkov a win.
The fight put Volkov back into the win column after suffering a first-round submission loss against Tom Aspinall in a main event bout earlier this year.
Rozenstruick was also attempting to come back from an unsuccessful outing. He previously competed against Curtis Blaydes, losing a unanimous decision in September 2021.
Undefeated Evloev Dominates Ige
Undefeated featherweight contender Movsar Evloev made a statement in Saturday night’s co-main event, putting together a unanimous decision win against Dan Ige.
Evloev’s stand-up and wrestling abilities allowed him to control Ige. He had the better striking on the feet, and remained active with shots while holding dominant positons on the ground.
Evloev’s pro record is now a flawless 16 pro wins, with six of those victories coming in the UFC cage. His previous victory was also a big one, defeating Hakeem Dawodu in June 2021.
Following his win, Evloev called out Arnold Allen, a name who has also yet to lose in the UFC.
Ige is now on a three-fight skid. He lost to other high-level names last year, dropping bouts to Josh Emmett and The Korean Zombie.
Almeida Puts End To Close Fight Against Trizano
A back-and-forth featherweight striking battle came to an end early in the third round, as UFC debutant Lucas Almeida secured a finish victory against Mike Trizano.
Almeida dropped Trizano in the opening minute of the third round, connecting with a left hook as part of an exchange. Hammerfist strikes on the ground from Almeida caused the fight to end shortly after.
Both fighters had big moments in the bout prior to the stoppage.
Trizano scored a knockdown late in the first round, wobbling Almeida with a left hook then dropping him with a knee to the head.
Almeida answered back a round later, scoring a knockdown of his own with punches.
Almeida was entering the UFC with 13 wins and just one loss. That lone defeat came from the last season of “Dana White’s Contender Series,” when he lost to Daniel Zellhuber. He bounced back later on in 2021 with a win on the Brazilian regional scene.
Trizano was fighting to return from a unanimous decision loss that he took earlier this year against Hakeem Dawodu.
Silva Submits Botelho Early In UFC Debut
Karine Silva had a strong showing in her first UFC fight, submitting Poliana Botelho in the first round with a darce choke.
Silva got a takedown late in the round after connecting with a large right hook. She moved into side control after that moment, using that position to search for a darce choke and eventually get the tap from Botelho.
Silva secured a UFC contract last year on the promotion’s “Dana White’s Contender Series” show. She now has a strong record of 15 wins and four losses.
Botelho is now on a three-fight losing streak.
Osbourne Stops Adashev Early With Punches
Flyweight Ode Osbourne had a quick win on Saturday night, finishing Zarrukh Adashev in just over a minute in a striking exchange.
Osbourne first dropped Adashev out with an overhand right while backing up. Capitalizing on this, Osbourne went to the ground and landed hammerfist strikes that knocked Adashev out.
The fight was a back-and-forth stand-up battle before the finish.
Osbourne is now on a two-fight winning streak for the first time since joining the UFC in 2019. His previous fight was a decision win over CJ Vergara from November 2021.
Osbourne called out flyweight Jeff Molina in his post-fight interview.
Adashev has lost three of his four UFC fights.
Menifield Stops UFC Newcomer Mozharov
Alonzo Menifield spoiled the UFC debut of Askar Mozharov in the opening bout of the main card, finishing him late in the first round with strikes.
Menifield finished the fight from a crucifix position, trapping an arm of Mozharov and landing a series of punches to his head. Due to the long streak of shots landed by Menifield, referee Herb Dean eventually stepped in to end the fight.
Menifield earned an early takedown and had a few minutes of ground control to start the fight. He had to score a second takedown later in the fight before getting into the finishing sequence.
Menifield took a loss in his previous appearance, dropping a unanimous decision to William Knight. He has now scored five wins through eight UFC appearances.
Mozharov was making his UFC debut on Saturday night.
Mozharov experienced some controversy this week, as information about his record as an MMA fighter was revealed. While his pro record was first known to have more than 20 wins and less than 10 losses, in more recent days he became recognized as 19 wins and 12 losses due to new information being uncovered by MMA record databases.
The Rest of the Card
Karolina Kowalkiewicz snapped a five-fight losing streak on Saturday night, submitting Felice Herrig in the second round with a rear naked choke. After losing her fourth consecutive fight and suffering defeat against Kowalkiewicz for the second time, Herrig announced her retirement from MMA.
A strong performance from Joe Solecki along with a second-round point deduction to Alex da Silva saw Solecki walk away with a majority decision victory.
Damon Jackson had a dominant ground control performance against short-notice UFC newcomer Dan Argueta for a unanimous decision result. Argueta, a former LFA Bantamweight Champion, was moving up a weight class to replace Darrick Minner on this weekend’s card.
Benoit Saint-Denis bounced back from a disastrous UFC debut, submitting Niklas Stolze in the second round with a rear naked choke.
Tony Gravely had an incredibly quick win, stopping Johnny Munhoz Jr. in just over a minute with strikes. Gravely first dropped Munhoz Jr. hard with a right uppercut, catching him with his inner forearm. The fight was stopped only seconds later.
Jeff Molina had a close decision win on the prelims, going three rounds against Zhalgas Zhumagulov for a split decision win. He now has three wins in the UFC.
In the first of many debuts on this card, Rinat Fakhretdinov had a dominant three-round wrestling performance against Andreas Michailidis for a unanimous decision win.
Erin Blanchfield’s undefeated UFC run continued on Saturday night, as she scored a standing guillotine choke against JJ Aldrich for her third promotional victory.
Quick Results
Main Card (4:00PM EDT / 1:00PM PDT) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass Canada)
Bout 14: Alexander Volkov def. Jairzinho Rozenstruick via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:12)
Bout 13: Movsar Evloev def. Dan Ige via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 12: Lucas Almeida def. Mike Trizano via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 0:55)
Bout 11: Karine Silva def. Poliana Botelho via Submission, Darce Choke (RD 1, 4:55)
Bout 10: Ode Osbourne def. Zarrukh Adashev via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:01)
Bout 9: Alonzo Menifield def. Askar Mozharov via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:40)
Preliminary Card (1:00PM EDT / 10:00AM PDT) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass Canada)
Bout 8: Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Felice Herrig via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 4:01)
Bout 7: Joe Solecki def. Alex da Silva via Decision, Majority
Bout 6: Damon Jackson def. Dan Argueta via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 5: Benoit Saint-Denis def. Niklas Stolze via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 1:32)
Bout 4: Tony Gravely def. Johnny Munhoz Jr. via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:08)
Bout 3: Jeff Molina def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via Decision, Split
Bout 2: Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Andreas Michailidis via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Erin Blanchfield def. JJ Aldrich via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 2, 2:38)
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