SUMMARY
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The octagon turned red as Alexander “Drago” Volkov (33-8) knocked out veteran heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem (48-19) in the 2nd round of the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday, February 6 (Sunday, February 7, Manila time) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Volkov – fresh from another knockout victory against Walt Harris last October – displayed a masterful performance and cracked Overeem’s face open late in the 1st round with his well-timed and powerful jabs.
The Russian giant became more active with his strikes and threw out nasty one-two combinations in the 2nd round that made Overeem bleed even more.
Volkov then landed another combination – capped off with a solid left hand – that sent Overeem down to the ground and forced the referee to stop the fight.
After his dominant performance against the former title contender, Volkov has now set his eyes on the heavyweight gold.
“It’s my time, I’m coming for the belt,” Volkov said. “I work a lot, I feel that I’m in really good shape now. But this is not my peak form yet, I’ll be better and I’m trying to work on all my skills in my camp. For sure I want to fight for the belt. We’ll see.”
This is the second straight victory for the 32-year-old and No. 6 ranked Volkov, while Overeem returned to the losing column after two straight wins last year.
In the co-main event, Cory “Sandman” Sandhagen (14-2) pulled off a potential Knockout of the Year contender as he finished Frankie “The Answer” Edgar (23-9-1) in just 28 seconds with a flying knee.
Edgar tried to apply the pressure from the get-go, but Sandhagen found the perfect spot and timing to land his right knee straight on Edgar’s face that left the 39-year-old veteran unconscious for a few minutes.
After his second straight knockout victory, Sandhagen believes he should be next in line for the bantamweight title, calling out the winner of the upcoming Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan fight.
“I know Yan is talking about fighting TJ [Dillashaw] after his fight against Sterling, that is if he even wins that fight. That’s garbage to me,” Sandhagen said. “Fight me, I’m the toughest fight next to Sterling.”
“And if Sterling wins, I owe him a nap and he’s getting that from me. The winner of that fight gets knocked out by me in July,” Sandhagen added.
Last October, Sandhagen finished another bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes with an impressive spinning wheel kick.
Meanwhile, top flyweight contender Alexandre “The Cannibal” Pantoja (23-5) spoiled the much-awaited UFC debut of former Rizin champion Manel “Prodigio” Kape (15-5) with a decision victory.
Pantoja shrugged off Kape’s showmanship inside the cage and kept his offense active all rounds to bounce back from his previous defeat.
The 30-year-old Brazilian came from a decision loss to Askar Askarov last July, while Kape saw his three-match win streak snapped.
In a clash of 155-pound prospects, No. 13 ranked lightweight Beneil Dariush (20-4-1) looks to join the stacked line of potential title contenders as he bagged a split decision win in a rematch against No. 10 ranked Diego Ferreira (17-3).
Both fighters had impressive grappling exchanges in the opening round of their action-packed bout, but Dariush came out on top with his aggression and landed a solid knee to the body that made Ferreira fumble.
While Dariush kept his momentum in the second round, Ferreira had a surge of urgency in the final round and displayed his slick striking prowess. Dariush, though, survived the Brazilian’s late onslaught and scored another takedown late in the fight to lock in his victory.
This is Dariush’s second victory over Ferreira – winning their first encounter in 2015 via unanimous decision.
Early in the main card, Danilo Marques (11-2) took his second straight victory under the UFC promotion as he nailed a second-round submission victory against “Slo” Mike Rodriguez (11-6).
The Brazilian grappler took control of the fight with his ground game and worn out Rodriguez until he found a way to a rear-naked choke that ended the fight with only seconds left in the 2nd round. – Rappler.com
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