The recent bout between Alex Volkanovski and Max Holloway at UFC 251 has split the MMA community into two.
Australia’s champion Alexander Volkanovski defended his UFC featherweight title against former champ Max Holloway for a second time, though the validity of the win has been questioned again by critics.
The latest win pushed the former rugby player’s winning streak to 19 MMA fights since 2013. He won via a split decision with the judges scoring 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 against the Hawaiian.
In comparison to their first clash in December 2019, the 2020 rematch was much closer. The 5-foot-5 Aussie was dropped momentarily by the Hawaiian on the first and second round, but he got back to his feet instantaneously.
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Though Holloway landed significant blows on Volkanovski early in the bout, outstruck the reigning champion in the first three rounds, he was unable to reclaim the title at the end of the match. “The Great” stood firm and picked up the pace in the later rounds with his leg kicks and takedowns and won via a split decision.
However, the result of the co-main event at UFC 251 got on the nerves of many athletes and fans. Other MMA fighters, along with some US pundits, cast their doubt on the result and picked Holloway as their winner.
Number-two ranked UFC bantamweight Aljamain Sterling felt the Hawaiian won the opening three rounds. He tweeted:
“I had Max the first 3 Rds! Damn! That’s tough man. I feel for Max but congrats to Volkanovski.”
Similarly, ESPN’s Stephen A Smith tweeted:
“I’m sorry but that was not a good decision. I had Holloway winning the first 3 rounds. Volkanovski closed the distance and took Round 4 easily, plus win around 5. But I had him losing the fight 3 Rounds to 2. Bad decision in my opinion.”
Meanwhile, according to UFC stats, the featherweight king landed 139 strikes to 111 for Holloway. He converted three of nine takedown attempts, which shows Volkanovski out-landing Holloway in significant strikes in every round except the first and second.
The official stats for Holloway vs Volkanovski actually show Alex outlanding max in significant strikes in every round but the first The two knockdowns gave Holloway the first two rounds but I'm interested to see what everyone's thoughts are on the third round let me know 👇 pic.twitter.com/74GH8wVKS1
— 🏴MMA AL🏴 (@MMA_Al34) July 12, 2020
The 31-year-old Volkanovski now sets his eyes on other featherweight contenders in a bid to defend his ‘GOAT status.’ He said:
“I definitely want to get another fight in [before the end of the year]. I want to stay active.”
“I’m one of the champions who is chasing the contenders. We’ve got a lot of guys in the division who are about to fight each other and I’m eyeing every one of them. I want to make defenses and take out No. 1 contenders. That’s what I want to do.”
As for the 145-pound Volkanovski, he could very well face the winner of Yair Rodriguez vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov. His other options are Brian Ortega, “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, and the self-proclaimed ‘Triple Champ’ Henry Cejudo.
Prove me wrong! I’ll bet my whole purse that you wouldn’t beat me! And my first girlfriend. #bendtheknee @alexvolkanovski https://t.co/R4LceIasLG
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) July 13, 2020
