About Last Night: UFC Vegas 18 Edition
Tackling the talking points and takeaways from Saturday's return to the UFC Apex
Alexander Volkov Makes a Statement
Alexander Volkov ended Alistair Overeem’s “One Final Run” with a masterful performance on Saturday night, picking apart the Dutch veteran in the first before cranking up the power and putting him away with a series of unanswered, precision punches late in the second.
This was a brilliant effort from an overlooked member of the heavyweight elite and the kind of effort that has to change the way you view Volkov going forward.
The towering Russian took his time throughout, patiently walking down Overeem in the first, using long jabs and right hands to open up the veteran and then upping the intensity as the second progressed, recognizing that Overeem wasn’t dealing with the punches well and getting him out of there in a hurry.
Now 7-2 inside the Octagon and riding a two-fight winning streak, “Drago” is a Derrick Lewis “Hail Mary” away from being 8-1 in the UFC and has to be recognized as a legitimate contender in the heavyweight ranks. While he was out-wrestled by Curtis Blaydes less than a year ago, that fight wasn’t as one-sided as most remember and it would be interesting to see how that one shakes out if they were to do it again.
There are a bunch of big matchups on the horizon in the heavyweight division and this was the kind of statement win Volkov needed to ensure he gets a marquee assignment against another top contender next time out.
Cory Sandhagen Calls Next
Cory Sandhagen is going to fight for the UFC bantamweight title in his next appearance after doing this to Frankie Edgar on Saturday night:
Just 28 seconds into the fight, Sandhagen elevated and put his knee squarely Edgar’s jaw and walked off as “The Answer” crashed to the canvas, frozen from the second the blow connected. It was reminiscent of Jeremy Stephens’ finish of Dennis Bermudez at UFC 189, where he just rose up in place and landed, but that was the third round of a clash between guys in the lower half of the Top 10.
This was the opening seconds of a massive fight between top contenders — a fight with a title shot quite possibly hanging in the balance — and Sandhagen made the loudest statement possible.
I know some folks will want to pair Sandhagen off with someone else in the interim, like returning former titleholder TJ Dillashaw or maybe Rob Font, but when you collect a walk-off win like this over a legend like Edgar, there shouldn’t be anything else you need to do in order to earn a title shot.
Sandhagen has next, end of discussion.
Michael Johnson: UFC Enigma
Michael Johnson has wins over Tony Ferguson, Edson Barboza, and Dustin Poirier. He battled Justin Gaethje tooth-and-nail in his UFC debut, and was a Top 15 fixture in the lightweight division for a number of years.
Saturday night, he lost his fourth straight, landing on the wrong side of the scorecards against veteran Clay Guida in a fight where they were neck-and-neck going into the final two minutes of the third round, when Johnson made a mistake, got his back taken, and got stuck defending a choke down the stretch. It was an all-too-familiar sequence for anyone who has watched Johnson closely over the last several years.
The former Ultimate Fighter finalist has solid foundational skills — quick, sharp hands; good offensive and defensive wrestling — and a wealth of experience, but he’s short on Fight IQ and it has cost him a number of times. There are just too many instances where he makes mistakes at crucial moments that cost him victories and it’s one of those things you either grow out of early or deal with throughout your career, and it’s been a long-time piece of the puzzle with “The Menace.”
We talk frequently about the best fighters to never win UFC gold, but Johnson might be the guy with the most impressive victories without ever really reaching title contention. He got close, but could never get over the hump, and his decision-making in the cage was often to blame.
What a weird, weird career.
Pantoja Welcomes Kape to the UFC with a Loss
Alexandre Pantoja got the nod in his highly anticipated flyweight clash with promotional newcomer Manel Kape on Saturday, earning scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27 from the judges. It was a close, tactical fight where both men were judicious with the offers for long stretches, but the Brazilian was the more active overall and rightfully came away with the win.
Kape, who rose to prominence under the RIZIN Fighting Federation banner, didn’t agree with the decision (the vanquished rarely do), but this should be a quality learning opportunity for the 27-year-old “Starboy.”
For Pantoja, this cements his standing as the resident “truth machine” in the 125-pound weight class — the guy you have to beat in order to get into contention and get a date with one of the division’s elite. He’s now 7-3 in the Octagon, including a win over Brandon Moreno and a decision loss to the champ, Deiveson Figueiredo, and 23-5 overall.
With a title rematch anticipated and fellow top contenders Joseph Benavidez and Askar Askarov penciled in against one another next month at UFC 259, a date with recent title challenger (and proud new papa) Alex Perez feels like the most obvious next step for “The Cannibal” after this impressive performance.
Beneil Dariush Keeps Rolling, Speaks His Mind
Emerging lightweight contender Beneil Dariush pushed his winning streak to six, earning a second victory over Carlos Diego Ferreira in an ultra-competitive, highly entertaining scrap on Saturday night.
From the outside, Dariush looked to dictate the terms of engagement, getting off with his improved striking and hurting Ferreira with a body shot midway through the first, while controlling the majority of the tremendous scrambles and entanglements on the canvas throughout. There were a couple dicey moments as there are every time he fights because Dariush doesn’t take a backward step, but each time, the Kings MMA product steadied himself and went back on the attack, holding off Ferreira to earn the victory.
After the bout, the 31-year-old kicked off his interview by declaring both he and Ferreira are unrated and somewhat overlooked, and he wasn’t wrong. Both guys have fought nasty slates, never turned down opponents, and don’t often get mentioned when discussing the best fighters in the division. That should change after their shared performance on Saturday night, and Dariush should hopefully find himself sharing the cage with a Top 10 opponent next time out.
Danilo Marques Dominates
Brazilian veteran Danilo Marques picked up his second consecutive UFC victory on Saturday night, putting Mike Rodriguez to sleep in the waning seconds of the second round with a rear-naked choke to push his overall winning streak to four.
From the outset, Marques played to his strength, closing the distance and putting Rodriguez on the canvas, giving the striker little time to get loose with his attacks. It was more of the same in the second and in the late stages of the round, the 35-year-old got around to Rodriguez’ back, baited him into giving up his neck and quickly put him to sleep with the kind of nasty squeeze that you don’t see all that often.
There was some snickering at the outset of the fight when Marques was described as “highly touted,” but with a second straight victory and an impressive finish here, the submission specialist has to be viewed as an intriguing wild card in the 205-pound ranks going forward at the very least. With how wide open things are at light heavyweight, another mauling or two like this and Marques will be ready to break into the Top 15 and make some real noise.
Preliminary Card Bullet Points
Real quality win for Devonte Smith over Justin Jaynes in the final preliminary card bout of the night, securing the stoppage late in the second round after Jaynes’ eye was swollen shut. After a 17-month layoff following a first-round knockout loss that included a torn Achilles and the death of his sister, this was the kind of impressive effort the promising Contender Series grad (Class of ‘18) likely needed, personally and professionally.
The 27-year-old is now 3-1 in the UFC and maintained his perfect finishing percentage, putting him back into the conversation as one of the top younger fighters in the lightweight division. He has a ton of upside and should get a step up in competition after a tremendous showing like this.
By the way, this is what Jaynes’ eye looked like when the doctor and referee waved off the fight:
Karol Rosa picked up her third straight UFC victory, pushing her record to 14-3 overall with a sharp, tactical effort against late replacement Joselyne Edwards, dragging the fight to the floor repeatedly while mixing in a smattering of heavy strikes over the course of 15 minutes. A teammate and training partner of Jessica Andrade, the 26-year-old Brazilian continues to be one to watch in the bantamweight division — a smart fighter that plays to her strengths, works with a quality team, and continues to show improvements every time out.
There is a ton of depth in the middle of the division, which means there should be multiple options when it comes time to find another dance partner for Rosa next time out, and hopefully we don’t have to wait another seven months for that fight to happen.
Just a quick note on Joselyne Edwards: she’s 25 and game as hell, and this was her second short-notice assignment in three weeks. Give her an actual training camp and some time to develop and she’ll continue to be a fun addition to the division.
Quality bounce-back performance from Lara Procopio in her sophomore appearance, out-grappling Molly McCann to secure a unanimous decision victory. She dropped her debut to Karol Rosa, who has looked solid thus far, but she looked far more comfortable and far more confident this time around, playing to her strengths and grinding out the victory.
Molly McCann left her gloves in the center of the Octagon following her loss, which is usually a sign that the fighter is retiring. This bout took place on the anniversary of her father’s death and she’s now dropped back-to-back appearances where she was out-grappled, which can be all kinds of demoralizing, so this might be a hasty decision that should be monitored for now.
McCann clarified things on Twitter shortly after the bout:
SeungWoo Choi continues to show improvements and look like someone to keep close tabs on in the featherweight division. He dropped his first two outings — to Movsar Evloev and Gavin Tucker — but he’s now won two straight after out-hustling Youssef Zalal on Saturday night. “Sting” has good size for the division, clean boxing, and after hanging tough against tough competition to start, he’s finding a rhythm and putting it together nicely.
I was really impressed with Youssef Zalal through his first four UFC appearances, as he won three straight to start his UFC run and showed toughness and resiliency in his loss to Ilia Topuria. But he now looks like he’s stalled out a little and gotten a little more tentative, as he was out-struck early by Choi and got a little lazy with his takedown attempts early, which resulted in him failing to get the fight to the canvas.
He’s only 24, so there is still plenty of time for him to learn from these last couple outings and get dialled in again, but Zalal is now in “need to get a victory” territory and there are no easy assignments in the featherweight division.On Saturday night, we saw the Timur Valiev that his coaches and teammates have been raving about for years, as he thoroughly out-worked Martin Day to secure his first UFC victory. The former WSOF competitor is 17-2 overall (1 NC) and if he’s going to become a factor in the bantamweight division (where he usually competes), he’s going to have to start stringing together performances like this, and quickly, because he’s already 31 and the division is brimming with talent.
Ode Osbourne got things started in blistering fashion, clocking Jerome Rivera with a clean left hand down the pipe after “The Renegade” threw a naked high kick right out of the chute. It was a textbook counter that landed flush and ended the fight in a flash, giving the Contender Series graduate (Class of ‘19) the first UFC victory of his career.
“The Jamaican Sensation” has talked about moving to flyweight and this effort makes that potential change in divisions even more interesting because if he can bring that power and the speed he’s shown thus far with him down to the 125-pound ranks, I’ll be real curious to see what the Milwaukee resident can do.
Young fighters need to use Jerome Rivera as a cautionary tale when it comes to chasing their UFC dreams. After failing to earn a contract despite registering a victory on the Contender Series last year, the New Mexico native made his debut on short notice and lost. Rather than taking some time to learn from his experiences and wait for a full camp opportunity, he took tandem late replacement fights and lost them both, getting finished each time.
In the span of six months, he’s gone 0-3 in the UFC and will probably get bounced back to the regional circuit because he was too aggressive in trying to rebound from his debut loss and secure his first victory. There is no substitute for experience at this level and when you’re just beginning your UFC adventure, full camps and adequate time to prepare are crucial to success.
