UFC Vegas 56: About Last Night...
An early morning start and some really entertaining fights gave us plenty to discuss once the dust settled
Alexander Looks Great
Alexander Volkov wasted no time getting back into the win column on Saturday, cracking Jairzinho Rozenstruik with a clean right hand down the pipe to kick off the finishing sequence that ended the fight a little more than two minutes after it began.
The towering Russian, who made wholesale changes to his training program and team ahead of this fight, was more aggressive and more active out of the gates for this one, throwing with more power and a great sense of meaning than he has in previous outings. Rather than taking a round to feel things out, he made his reads early, saw ways to attack, and took them, pressuring Rozenstruik and putting him on his heels with his back against the fence.
From there, he dropped the hammer.
Volkov has been a fixture in the Top 10 since he first arrived in the UFC and remain such now, solidifying his place just outside the contending class with this victory, and showing a little something that should make everyone at least have a momentary re-think about whether he can rejoin that pack in the next 12-18 months.
If he continues to fight with this kind of confidence, it’s not out of the question.
Movsar Evloev is The Goods
Unbeaten featherweight prospect Movsar Evloev earned the biggest win of his career on Saturday, dominating veteran Dan Ige from start-to-finish to grab his sixth consecutive UFC victory and his 16th straight win overall.
The 28-year-old stood with Ige early in the contest, getting the better of the Hawaiian on the feet, including landing a beautiful flying knee that Ige somehow ate without collapsing to the canvas. Once Evloev shifted into his grappling, he continued to shine, out-classing the ultra-competitive Ige on the canvas in every exchange. There was no point in this fight where Evloev was in danger or looked like he was slowing down, plus he showed clear signs of improvement as well.
There are a pack of younger featherweights showing a ton of promise climbing the ranks right now, and with all due respect to Arnold Allen, Evloev might be the best of them. The future is extremely bright for the emerging Russian.
All-Action Almeida
Lucas Almeida made an instant impression on the UFC audience, getting into a slobberknocker with Michael Trizano that featured each man getting dropped and the Brazilian securing a third-round finish to collect a win in his promotional debut.
Almeida came out swinging, but paid the price in the first, catching a hook that put him on the canvas late in the round. He returned the favour to Trizano in the second, catching him with a clean left hook before a clash of heads opened a gnarly cut over the right eye of the former TUF winner that continued bleeding despite the best efforts of the cutman in his corner. Early in the third, he dropped another hammer on Trizano, who instantly looked like he was standing on a skating rink, and finished him from there.
This was an entertaining debut from the former DWCS contestant, who looks like he could be an interesting all-action addition to the featherweight ranks.
Welcome to the UFC, Karine Silva
It felt like the UFC placed Karine Silva on the main card in hopes that she could secure an impressive victory that established her as one to watch in the flyweight division, and the DWCS grad delivered, collecting a late first-round submission win over Poliana Botelho.
The newcomer showed improved patience and shot-selection through the opening three minutes of the round, waiting to find her openings and avoiding anything Botelho had to offer. Late in the frame, Silva cracked her countrywoman with a clean right hand that took her off her feet, and followed her to the canvas. From there, she quickly locked up an anaconda choke, trapped the near-side leg, and secured the tap.
This was a terrific effort and a really nice show of development from the 28-year-old Silva, who has now won six straight, and bears watching in the 125-pound weight class.
Okay Ode’
Ode’ Osbourne picked up his second consecutive victory to solidify his place in the flyweight division on Saturday’s main card, connecting wth a counter right hand that put Zarrukh Adashev down and out 61 seconds into the opening round.
Each man looked to get loose with their hands right off the hop, but there was a pronounced speed difference between the two, with Osbourne throwing with more fluidity and sharpness than Adashev, who forces more power shots. As they traded, Osbourne avoided a reaching left hand and fired off a beautiful counter, catching Adashev’s chin and sending him to the canvas.
The Dana White’s Contender Series graduate has good length, good speed, and good athleticism, and seems to be settling into life at ‘25 and doing work with the Syndicate MMA crew. My question going into this one was where Osbourne fit in the division, and this effort solidified his place as a mid-pack talent in the flyweight ranks, while also showing that his ceiling has yet to be defined.
Menifield Rolls, Mozharov Salty
Alonzo Menifield smashed Askar Mozharov, dominating the debuting fighter with the suspect record, securing a finish in the close seconds of the opening round with a string of elbows from the mounted crucifix position.
Menifield wisely took the fight to the canvas early and returned Mozharov there when he charged forward after getting back to his feet, quickly climbing into the mounted crucifix position and smashing out the finish. The two continued to chirp one another following the finish, with Mozharov seemingly upset that Menifield took the fight to the canvas, which seems both very much on brand and completely ridiculous. He even tried yapping at Sayif Saud, and for the second time on Saturday, “The General” fired back with verbal gems, pointing out the lumps on the side of Mozharov’s head.
While Menifield collects a nice finish, Mozharov was the most intriguing story of the week, with his record being adjusted multiple times as previously delivered results were called into question and changed, with a couple of them looking real suspect. He seems like one of those dudes that plays the role of a quality fighter better than he actually fights, and it will be interesting to see if the UFC keeps him around for a second appearance or opts to just cut bait now that he’s coming off a one-sided first-round loss.
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Preliminary Card Thoughts
After four long years and five consecutive losses, Karolina Kowalkiewicz finally returned to the win column, securing a second-round submission win over Felice Herrig.
The veteran strawweights got after it right out of the gate, with both the former title challenger and the TUF 20 contestant willingly wading into the fray and trading big shots on the feet. In the second, Kowalkiewicz managed to drag the fight to the canvas, flattening Herrig out and unloading a barrage of strikes that opened up the opportunity to sink in a deep choke that produced a tap.
It’s been years since Kowalkiewicz looked this good — probably not since her split decision win over Rose Namajunas prior to her UFC 205 clash with Joanna Jedrzejczyk — and the relief was clear as the former title threat fought of tears throughout her post-fight time in the Octagon. Herrig did as well, as the “Lil Bulldog” removed her gloves, placed them on the canvas, and announced her retirement from the sport, ending an eight-year run in the UFC and nearly 20-year career ing combat sports.
Joe Solecki got back into the win column with a unanimous decision win over Alex da Silva in a somewhat chaotic scrap near the end of the prelims, collecting a rare 10-7 score on two cards in the middle stanza following a point deduction.
The Brazilian won the first after stinging Solecki with a right hand out of the gate and controlling things on the canvas from there. Solecki got on da Silva’s back early in the second and threatened throughout, with “Leko” losing a point following multiple warnings for lacing his toes into the fence and grabbing the inside of Solecki’s gloves. Referee Chris Tognoni gave him plenty of opportunities to stop doing what he was doing, and wisely took the point without pausing the action, reiterating his deduction at the close of the round.
In the third, da Silva again controlled with his striking, and celebrated like he had won the fight, showing a complete lack of awareness of the situation. He was befuddled by the result, and while I didn’t necessarily agree with the two 10-7 scores for Solecki in the second, da Silva had no chance to win following the point deduction, so his reaction was laughable.
Both guys have clear strengths, and da Silva shows the greater upside, but his Fight IQ is low and it’s going to continue to hamper him as he looks to climb the divisional ladder.
Damon Jackson kept his winning streak intact on Saturday, grinding out a hard-fought, unanimous decision victory over short-notice newcomer Dan Argueta in a fight that got chippy both inside and outside the Octagon.
Jackson controlled the majority of the first and second rounds with his grappling, getting around to Argueta’s back in each of those rounds and threatening with chokes. Argueta remained patient and calm, scored where he could, and came out firing in the third, landing impactful blows in the first half of the round before fading. It was a good enough from Jackson to secure his third straight UFC victory, and a quality showing from the TUF 29 alum Argueta, who will likely move back down to bantamweight after this one.
One of the more interesting elements of the contest was the chirping between the two sides during the fight, as Argueta and Cub Swanson, who was his chief corner, traded barbs and comments with Fortis MMA’s Sayif Saud, who showed no hesitation firing back. Some folks lament all these shows in the UFC APEX, but I’ll take a limited crowd and the opportunity to hear corners shit-talking one another over a pack arena in Jacksonville or Houston any day.
After proving his toughness in his short-notice debut, Benoit Saint Denis showed more of his game on Saturday, earning a dominant second-round submission win over Niklas Stoltze.
Saint Denis caught a hell of a beating against Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos but made it the full 15, and showed more of that toughness here, catching an early knee to the dome that split him open and another good shot to start the second that looked to stun him a little, but each time, he pressed forward and found success. He finished the opening round with a deep choke locked in on Stoltze and after driving through a high amplitude takedown early in the second, he went and found it again, getting the tap from the German.
The former French special forces agent looked sharp and seems like a better fit at ‘55 after debuting at welterweight, and should get his wish to take part in the UFC’s September 3 debut in Paris.
Huge knockout finish for Tony Gravely on Saturday’s prelims, as he connected with a beautiful, short uppercut as Johnny Munoz Jr. looked to change levels in tight. Gravely found the chin, dropped Munoz Jr. and pounded out the finish, giving him consecutive victories and four wins in his last five fights.
Gravely is another one of those sharp, skilled fighters that highlight how tremendous the bantamweight division is right now, because even in going 4-1 over his last five, he’s still a few steps away from breaking into the Top 15. His wrestling is sharp, he’s got a little pop in his hands (clearly), and he’s got a ton of experience, having fought great competition on the way to the UFC and a solid slate since arriving.
The two things that have limited Gravely thus far has been the fact his wrestling-heavy approach takes a lot of energy to deploy and he doesn’t take big shots very well, but if he can continue sharpening his hands and make them more of a weapon, those other issues could be minimized going forward.
Even Jeff Molina wasn’t sure he won all three rounds, so when he heard the third score in his split decision result against Zhalgas Zhumagulov was a clean sweep of the scorecards, he started to walk away disappointed. But then Joe Martinez declared him victorious, leading to hugs from the Glory MMA & Fitness team, and questions on Twitter from those scoring at home.
This was an ultra-close fight and I’m not going to get into the scoring here because I’d need to watch it back without any second screens or commentary in order to feel comfortable offering an official score. What I do want to talk about is how this is going to be a huge learning opportunity for Molina, who showed serious improvements and development in the grappling exchanges here, and is only going to benefit from this one.
Molina is 24 years old and this was his third UFC appearance, and he was forced to go 15 hard minutes with a well-rounded, seasoned veteran. Win or lose, this fight taught him some things about himself and his training that will serve him well going forward. Regardless of how you feel about the decision, there are positives to take away from this effort for the flyweight prospect, and Zhumagulov’s status and standing doesn’t decline at all as a result of the debated loss.
Solid debut for Rinat Fakhretdinov, who secured a unanimous decision win over Andreas Michailidis with a grappling-heavy approach.
The streaking newcomer wrestled the Greek competitor into oblivion, wearing on him for well over two-thirds of the fight, drawing plenty of cheers from his power corner of Marcos De Matta and Oleg Taktarov. Michailidis offered very little resistance, and ended the fight coated in blood after Fakhretdinov caused his cauliflower ear to erupt midway through the third round.
This was a good win for the debuting Russian, who was also fighting at welterweight for the first time. It’s difficult to take too much away from a one-sided effort against a fighter that has now lost fights in three divisions over his first four UFC appearances, but it’s a strong starting point that makes Fakhretdinov one to keep tabs on going forward.
Erin Blanchfield validated the hype surrounding her in Saturday’s opener, catching a high-elbow guillotine choke on JJ Aldrich midway through the second round to collect her third straight UFC victory.
Aldrich was controlling the fight for the majority of the first seven minutes, using her crisp hands and experience advantage to stick Blanchfield with short, clean shots and surprising strength in the clinch. The veteran put the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt on the deck twice and defended Blanchfield’s attempts to get the fight to the floor, but when Aldrich stumble to the canvas, Blanchfield attacked the neck as she scrambled to her feet, sinking in the choke and securing the tap.
This is going to be a huge growth moment for the 23-year-old New Jersey native, as she was getting out-worked, but found a way to secure the victory nonetheless. There was lots for Blanchfield to learn from here, however she should also take pride in knowing she can hang tough with a seasoned veteran, deal with some adversity, and still find a finish when the opportunity presents itself.
Impressive stuff from the ultra-talented American prospect.