Fight Of The Night: Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes
Alexander Volkanovski turned back the clock and rewrote the history books by reclaiming the featherweight championship against Diego Lopes. With a strong performance early, Volkanovski stood behind his jab and was the technician everyone remembered. Volkanvoski mitigated much of the risk coming from Lopes, which included the heavy hands and explosiveness of the younger challenger. Volkanovski seemed to frustrate Lopes by eliminating his opponent’s gameplan, but Lopes had his moments as well, particularly late in the fourth where a Lopes uppercut landed in stunning fashion. Volkanovski finished the round and later the fight with ease, but a troubling sight nonetheless.
Volkanovski became the second man to hold the UFC featherweight title twice, joining company of Jose Aldo. Volkanovski also became the first fighter over age 35 to win a title fight in the lighter weight classes.
Performance Of The Night Bonuses
Performance Of The Night: Jean Silva
Jean Silva was a man on a mission as he secured his second win in eight weeks. Bryce Mitchell was landing early, but by the look on Silva’s face – he was never worried. Silva was actively waving Mitchell on to throw more strikes and wrestle, but Mitchell did not take the bait. It would not be until the second round where Silva would dial-in and submit Mitchell with a ninja choke.
This makes it two wins this year and five wins in five fights in the UFC for Jean Silva. The featherweight Fighting Nerd will surely shoot up the rankings and could face a top-10 featherweight in his next bout.
Performance Of The Night: Paddy Pimblett
Any questions about Paddy Pimblett being able to perform at the top level has been answered. In striking exchanges and wrestling exchanges against Michael Chandler, Pimblett was the better man tonight as he collected his seventh consecutive UFC win.
Pimblett faced an early Chandler onslaught of grappling in the first, but the second round was where Pimblett started to find his distance with his striking. It would not be until the third where Pimblett saw his opening, connecting with a flying knee that cut Chandler badly. After this knee, Pimblett forced his way onto the canvas and continued his barrage of punches to ultimately end Chandler’s night.
Attendance: 18,287
Gate: $11,507,099
Records: UFC now holds the #1, #2, and #3 highest grossing events of all time at Kaseya Center
