UFC 266: Review and Results
Volkanovski vs. Ortega | Two-Title Fights and Nick Diaz's Return
Don Khan Swaylo | Sep 26, 2021 |
UFC’s 9th International Fight Week in Las Vegas came to a head with UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega, but first, there was a busy weekend of Hall of Famers and fan events to get through.
The 2020 UFC Hall of Fame class was inducted at the Park MGM on Thursday, September 23rd, after being delayed a year because of the governmental shutdown. The class consisted of long-time welterweight kingpin and one of the all-time greats, 3-time welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre. A building block of the early days of the pre-Zuffa era and PRIDE mainstay, former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin “The Monster” Randleman. The man ultimately tasked with granting the sport legitimacy, long-time vice president of regulatory affairs, Marc Ratner. Unique to the UFC Hall of Fame is the induction of specific fights. This year’s inductee was the initial Jon Jones (who’s back in the news again for… well, being Jon Jones) and Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 in 2013.
The next couple of days were packed with the lauded two-day Fan Experience that took over two acres of space in “The Park” and “Toshiba Plaza.” Top contenders like Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, and Dominick Reyes were there, along with Jorge Masvidal and the Hall of Famer Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. Knocking out some fools with the overhand right for about $350; not really, but you could imagine it, couldn’t you?
As for the card itself, the centerpiece of the weekend, it mostly delivered. Here’s a rundown of the results and reviews of the more notable contests.
ESPN+ Prelims
Featherweight: Jonathan Pearce (11-4, 2-1 UFC) submits (rear-naked choke) Omar Morales (11-2, 3-2 UFC) @ 3:31 of Round 2.
Welterweight: Matthew Semelsberger (9-3, 3-1 UFC) KTFO’s Martin Sano (4-3-1, 0-1 UFC) @ 0:15 of Round 1. Sano is the main training partner of Nick Diaz (foreshadowing?) and got one-punch KO’d for his trouble.
Middleweight: Nick Maximov (7-0, 1-0 UFC) defeats Cody Brundage (6-2, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision (x3 29-28).
Lightweight: Jalin Turner (11-5, 4-2 UFC) submits (rear-naked choke) Uros Medic (7-1, 1-1 UFC) @ 4:01 of Round 1.
ESPN News Prelims
Women’s Flyweights: Talia Santos (#12 ranked, 18-1, 3-1 UFC) defeats Roxanne Modafferi (#9 ranked, 25-19, 4-7 UFC) by unanimous decision (x3 30-27). Santos had her way with the former title challenger and Ultimate Fighter 26 finalist. Modafferi couldn’t buy a takedown in the 3rd and didn’t look much more game earlier in the contest. Santos looked great in the clinch and, with a little work shoring up the fists, could be a contender to watch in the flyweight division.
Heavyweight (Performance of the Night Winner): Chris Daukaus (#10 ranked, 12-3, 4-0 UFC) knocked out Shamil Abdurakhimov (#7 ranked, 20-6, 5-4 UFC) @ 1:23 of Round 2. Just let the video do the talking.
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1441927972710199296
Lightweights: Dan Hooker (#8 ranked, 21-10, 11-6 UFC) defeated Nasrat Haqparast (13-4, 5-3 UFC) by unanimous decision (x2 30-27, 30-26). Nasrat looked all out of sorts, getting hit with an axe kick in the 1st, having his body worked in the 2nd, and nearly getting finished in the 3rd via a choke. Big win and dominant showing by Hooker.
Bantamweights (Performance of the Night Winner): Merab Dvalishvili (#11 ranked, 14-4, 7-2, UFC) TKO’s Marlon Moraes (#6 ranked, 23,9-1, 5-5 UFC) @ 4:25 of Round 2. Easily the fight of the night up until this point. Moraes rocked Dvalishvili early in the 1st; he recovered to clinch, eventually taking down Moraes and rocking him with some vicious ground-and-pound until the bell rings.
Round 2 opens up with a big Merab body blow that results in him taking down Marlon and going back to smashing him through the mat. Moraes scrambles up to his feet and makes a feeble takedown attempt that goes nowhere, only for Merab to start shortening his lifespan with undefended shots until the ref ends the fight.
ESPN+ PPV Main Card
Women’s Flyweight: Jessica Andrade (ranked #1, 22-9, 13-7 UFC) TKO’s Cynthia Calvillo (ranked #5, 9-3-1, 6-3-1 UFC). The fight never had an opportunity to go to the ground, simply a sloppy barroom brawl with more leg kicks than a Street Fighter tournament. An Andrade leg kick rocked Calvillo near the end of the round, only for Jessica to swarm and wrap up the opener. Even though she just lost to the champ, Shevchenko (spoilers), in April, she looked so dominant that running it back in the new year isn’t out of the question.
Heavyweights: Curtis Blaydes (#4, 15-3 1 no contest, 10-3 1 NC UFC) defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik (#6 ranked, 12-3, 6-3 UFC) by unanimous decision (x3 30-27). Whenever two heavyweights go the distance, the result is, more often than not, a stinker; this notion was reinforced here. The most interesting thing about this fight was Blaydes’ face afterwards. This stunk.
Dominant performance for @RazorBlaydes265, who takes the UD victory.
[ #UFC266 | TUNE IN NOW | Live on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/2qE0lEWxD2 ] pic.twitter.com/1Knre3BrHo
— UFC (@ufc) September 26, 2021
Middleweight: Robbie Lawler (29-15 1 no contest, 14-9 UFC) TKO’s (retirement) Nick Diaz (26-10 2 no contest, 7-7 1 no contest) @ 0:44 of Round 3. This is Diaz’s first fight since UFC 183 against Anderson Silva on January 31, 2015 (over 6 years) and Lawler’s first go in over 1 year. Combined, there are over 40 years of professional MMA experience, so it was a good showing for a couple of “legends” (one more so than the other). Diaz started off with a jumping spin kick (must have been inspired by GSP a couple of nights ago), and Lawler dodged that and landed some big shots. It stayed standing and up against the cage for the first two rounds, which were close for sure, but in the third, Lawler landed a combo that had Diaz land in a heap on the mat. Weirdly enough, Diaz told the ref that he’s good, and that’s the end of it. That was the first stoppage (technically) of the older Diaz brother since 2007; that still was a doctor’s stoppage against KJ Noons at EliteXC: Uprising on September 15. The last mid-round stoppage was in his 5th Career bout in 2002, some 19 years ago (almost to the day).
UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship: Valentina Shevchenko (champion, 22-3, 11-2 UFC) TKO’s Lauren Murphy (#3 tanked, 15-5, 7-5 UFC) @ 4:00 of Round 4. The 8th straight victory and 6th straight title defense for “Bullet.” It was never in doubt for one of the most dominant champions in the UFC today. She has cleared out the division; one has to wonder if she moves up to challenge Amanda Nunes for the Bantamweight crown to avenge her last two defeats, considering the dominance of both their reigns so far.
UFC Featherweight Championship (Fight of the Night Winner): Alexander Volkanovski (champion, 23-1, 10-0 UFC) defeats Brian Ortega (#2, 15-2 1 no contest, 7-2 1 NC UFC) by unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-44). Don’t let the weird scoring fool you; this was an all-timer that the crowd went mental over. (Personal aside: the lighter weight classes always deliver more exciting fights than the big boys who stand and bang; more my speed, but I get you if you like the finishes and spectacle. More of a technical fan.) It didn’t go to the ground until the 3rd; the first two rounds were all about getting range and an extended feeling-out process with both men landing very good kicks and combos. Ortega dropped Volkanovski with a left hand and immediately went for a guillotine attempt in-mount in the throws of round number 3. Volkanovski eventually gets out and lands on top in guard to rain down some vicious hands. Ortega threw up the hell’s gate… triangle choke, got it in deep, but once again, Volkanovski has ridiculous submission escapes to finish the third round with some massive hands on top. Round 4 looks much of the same on the ground, and the final round was back to the feet with combos and leg kicks, with Ortega leaving a good lasting impression in the minds of the judges. But it ultimately wasn’t enough, as Volkanovski rattles off his 20th straight victory and second defense of the Featherweight crown. It’s his for as long as he wants it.
Really enjoyable night of fights with very few stinkers. UFC’s next Pay-Per-View outing is in the land of oil and skyscrapers, Abu Dhabi, for UFC 267: Blachowicz vs. Teixeira with the Light Heavyweight Championship on the line on October 30th, 2021.
