Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway had fireworks in the co-main event of UFC 251.
The two fighters met in a featherweight title bout on Saturday night (July 11, 2020) at the UFC 251 pay-per-view event from Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island aka Fight Island.
Holloway started out strong and never looked back. In fact, Holloway had chances of ending the fight such as stunning him twice in round one including at the end of the round by a head kick. Holloway briefly knocked him down to end the second round.
Volkanovski started to become more aggressive in round four as it became clear that it was a competitive fight yet Holloway had the advantage. Volkanovski got hurt by a spinning back kick in round four. A highlight for Volkanovski was the fact that he scored a takedown in round four, but Holloway got back to his feet. They traded to the finish aside from Volkanovski scoring two late takedowns, with the judges giving the win to Volkanovski by split decision.
Peep the highlights of the fight courtesy of the UFC’s official Twitter account:
Their first fight, which marked the most recent bouts for both men, saw Volkanovski dethrone Holloway at the UFC 245 pay-per-view event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Holloway successfully retained the UFC featherweight title over Frankie Edgar in the headliner of the UFC 240 pay-per-view event, which marked his latest title defense and previous bout before Volkanovski. Before that, Holloway attempted to make history when he took on Dustin Poirier for the interim UFC lightweight title in the main event of the UFC 236 pay-per-view (PPV). However, Holloway lost the hard-fought fight via unanimous decision. The show went down on April 13, 2019, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Volkanovski went on a seven-fight winning streak under the UFC banner to earn the title fight against Holloway. Before UFC 245, in his previous two fights, he finished Chad Mendes in brutal fashion at the UFC 232 pay-per-view event from the Forum in Inglewood, California and then a decision win over former UFC champ Jose Aldo at the UFC 237 pay-per-view event from the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil.
MMA News is providing ongoing coverage of UFC 251. We’ve got you covered with live results, video highlights, and post-fight tidbits.
