ANAHEIM — The reign in Spain started mainly Saturday in Southern California.
Undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria, who had been supremely confident leading up to challenging one of the most dominant bantamweight champions in UFC history, backed up his bravado with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in the UFC 298 main event at Honda Center.
Topuria tagged Volkanovski with a right to the body and a left to the head that had the champ backing against the cage, then planted a picture-perfect right on the jaw that crumbled Volkanovski. Referee Jason Herzog jumped in to stop the fight at 3:32 of the second round.
Topuria, who was born in Germany, raised in the Republic of Georgia and moved to Spain at 15, improves to 15-0 with 13 finishes (eight submissions and five knockouts).
A methodical first round saw each fighter measuring leg kicks and jabs, Volkanovski (26-4) landing more strikes, 20-15, and landing a well-timed left in the final minute and also appearing to open a small cut on the left of Topuria’s hairline.
Volkanovski appeared to open a small cut on the bridge of Topuria’s nose in the second round before the shocking finish.
The Australian champion was making his sixth title defense after winning the title via from Max Holloway more than four years ago at UFC 245.
In fact, Volkanovski had never lost at 145 pounds, going 16-0 since October 2014 and 11-0 since his UFC debut June 11, 2017.
Dvalishvili beats Cejudo
For what seemed like an eternity, Henry Cejudo’s career hung in the balance Saturday night at Honda Center.
After saying he would retire if he couldn’t beat bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 at Honda Center, the former Olympic gold medalist and UFC double champion spent several seconds up in the air. Literally.
In the third round, Dvalishvili scooped up the 37-year-old Cejudo, carried him across the Octagon and dumped him, an exclamation point on a unanimous-decision victory that appeared to end Cejudo’s career.
While Dvalishvili celebrated his victory that was scored 29-28 by all three judges with his in-ring postfight interview, Cejudo removed his gloves – typically a harbinger for hanging them up – and paced. The only problem was everyone was left hanging as the music played after Dvalishvili’s interview and Cejudo wasn’t offered an opportunity to address the crowd and his possible retirement.
Dvalishvili’s last three victories are over former champions Cejudo, Petr Yan and Jose Aldo. He has now won 10 in a row since April 2018, nine via decision, and called out 135-pound champion Sean O’Malley, who was in attendance and has a title fight with Marlon Vera next month.
The fight opened with Cejudo having more success, often faking to shoot but rising up to pop Dvalishvili. The second round was the opposite, Dvalishvili finding a home for his hands. At one point, Cejudo swung wildly and Dvalishvili ducked under it for a single-leg takedown. The round ended with Dvalishvili cranking Cejudo’s neck and hamming it up for the fans, most notably Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sitting cageside.
With the crowd clearly supporting him, Dvalishvili appeared the fresher fighter in the third, connecting with rights and pushing the pace. When the horn sounded to end the fight, their reactions were telling: Cejudo walked over to his corner and sank toward the fence, Dvalishvili ran to his corner and scaled the cage.
Whittaker rebounds
Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker made an emphatic statement in his push for another crack at the belt.
The Australian barely survived a Paulo Costa head kick at the end of the first round to come away the unanimous-decision winner in co-main event.
The judges scored it 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 for Whittaker (26-7), who had lost two of his past three fights.
Whittaker outlanded Costa 93-59 and largely dictated the action, attacking Costa’s lead leg early and frequently finding a home for his left hand.
But after a good showing in the opening round, Whittaker was staggered by a spinning heel kick in the closing seconds, which he later referred to as “a flesh wound.” Costa (14-3) tried to put him away but ran out of time, holding up his thumb and finger to show Whittaker how close the fight came to ending.
Garry edges Neal
It was a split decision in the judges’ eyes, but not the fans’.
Undefeated Irish welterweight Ian Machado Garry was on the move all fight in an effort to avoid the power of Geoff Neal and he did just enough to earn the split-decision victory.
The judges scored the fight 30-27 28-29 30-27 for Garry (14-0), who was soundly booed after the decision was read and during his postfight interview.
Garry spent much of the fight dancing around the outside while Neal (15-6) plodded after him. Garry would occasionally settle in for a 1-2 combination or a knee or a kick, then it was back on his bicycle. By the time there was a minute left in the fight, the crowd was voicing its displeasure.
Afterward, Garry called out Colby Covington, saying he wanted to retire the former interim 170-pound champion whose last three losses have all been for the welterweight belt.
Related Articles
UFC 298: Amanda Lemos outpoints Mackenzie Dern to fans’ delight
UFC 298: Henry Cejudo goes all-in, title shot or bust
UFC 298: Volkanovski out to prove he’s different against confident Topuria
UFC 298: Mackenzie Dern faces Amanda Lemos seeking control
UFC 297: Dricus Du Plessis outpoints Sean Strickland to win the undisputed middleweight belt
Hernandez gets the tap
Anthony Hernandez’s persistence could not be stopped as the Northern California middleweight stopped Roman Kopylov with a second-round submission in the opening fight on the main card.
Hernandez (12-2, 1 NC) fought for the takedown in the first round, but could never take advantage. After eating a couple punches and a head kick early in the second round, Hernandez smiled and stuck out his tongue at the Russian.
Before long, Hernandez got Kopylov down and got his back, toiling to get his arms locked under his neck. After one attempt was thwarted, Hernandez patiently went for it again, this time squeezing until getting the tapout at 3:23 of the second round.