LAS VEGAS — The third time became out to be more hurt than charm for historical featherweight champion Max Holloway as defending king Alexander Volkanovski keep forth a virtuoso efficiency in Saturday’s trilogy bout.
In the fourth protection of his 145-pound crown, Volkanovski dominated Holloway all the procedure via and left him a bloody shell of himself internal T-Mobile Enviornment. All three judges scored it 50-45 for Volkanovski (25-1) within the co-principal event of UFC 276.
By scoring his third consecutive victory over Holloway (23-7) since their rivalry started in 2019, the 33-year-feeble Volkanovski ended any lingering debate from their disputed rematch in 2020. The native of Australia also took one wide step nearer to historical foe Jose Aldo within the debate of finest featherweight in MMA ancient previous.
“Max Holloway is an absolute beast,” Volkanovski mentioned. “That intensity that he introduced over the previous few days, I wanted it.”
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The 30-year-feeble Holloway had talked a mountainous sport for the length of war week by promising a attain within the third round and uncharacteristically talking trash to Volkanovski at Thursday’s press convention. But he became in a largely boring efficiency as Volkanovski’s bustle and accuracy began to portion the Hawaiian fan approved up from the birth.
Volkanovski began to overtly taunt Holloway within the opening round and speedy buckled him with a mountainous true ghastly. Holloway went support to his nook with a within the reduction of below his true watch ahead of issues took a terrific deeper turn for the worse in Spherical 2 when a mountainous counter true badly within the reduction of Holloway’s left watch to recede away his face a crimson mess.
Holloway began to war more desperate in Spherical 4 and traded strikes on largely even phrases because the circulation slowed. But after the within the reduction of on his left watch burst birth again and affected his imaginative and prescient, Volkanovski finished the war in dominant sort by lighting fixtures Holloway up within the final round.
By making the fourth protection of his featherweight title, Volkanovski passed Holloway to switch into second situation in UFC featherweight ancient previous and three at the support of Aldo. “Alexander the Gargantuan,” who improved to 12-0 total within the Octagon, talked after the war about his hobby to switch up in weight and set gentle-weight champion Charles Oliveira.
“I beautiful proved to you that I luxuriate in to be on this Octagon as great as conceivable,” Volkanovski mentioned. “I luxuriate in to be busy and I invent now not insist this division itself can retain me busy. I must switch up and earn that double champ discipline and if I earn each and every belts, I could retain each and every divisions busy. Let’s recede.”