From a concreter to the consensus best fighter in the world; such is the journey of Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski.
The Australian featherweight king was bestowed a second crown yesterday when the UFC updated their promotional rankings following the results of UFC 278 last weekend. Volkanovski now sits as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Kamaru Usman, the former holder of the top spot on the list, slid three places after a shock knockout courtesy of Leon Edwards (who enters the P4P rankings for the first time at number six). This loss, coupled with the 145-pound champ’s string of success since entering the promotion in 2016 pushed Volkanovski to the top of the pile after the reshuffle.
As it stands, ‘Volk’ is currently on a 21-fight win streak, with 12 of those wins coming inside the UFC. His sole loss came in just his fourth fight, which took place in the welterweight division in 2013.
The AllStar MMA roundup
- Fight or Flight: Keep up with John Hyon Ko’s journo to fighter journey as he prepares to take an amateur fight
- UFC 279: Julian Erosa likely to make the fight down & dirty against “clean striker” Hakeem Dawodu
- UFC 279: Chad Anheliger says he wants to finish Heili Alateng – “I want to just beat this guy up”
The best of the rest
- Leon Edwards says body ‘just shut down’ at UFC 278, credits coaches for comeback: ‘They knew how to press my buttons’ – MMAFighting.com
- Merab Dvalishvili says Jose Aldo retired after loss at UFC 278: He said, ‘I guess I’m done.’ – MMAFighting.com
- Marcin Tybura still high on Alexandr Romanov’s ceiling: ‘I think his hype is still there’ – MMAjunkie.com
- Dana White: Merab Dvalishvili didn’t shine at UFC 278 like someone who wants a title shot – MMAJunkie.com
- Manager: Justin Gaethje likely to return ‘at the beginning of next year’ against a big name – BloodyElbow.com
The soapbox
El Diamanté hints at the location of his next fight:
Paulo Costa fancies himself the Best Looking Fighter:
And reacts to his crypto bonus:
Chito is gunning for gold:
Terrance McKinney wants to take on pro wrestling after MMA:
John Nash on the promoter/fighter split:
Ben Rothwell’s debut set for BKFC:
The morning view
JHK catches up with Sijara Eubanks ahead of UFC Vegas 60:
The Weasle previews Tony Ferguson vs Li Jingliang:
Stylebender reacts to UFC 278:
Done deals
Tuesday
- Julian Marquez to fight Deron Winn at UFC event on December 17th (per Farah Hannoun)
- Jake Hadley will take on Carlos Candelario at UFC event on November 5th (per Mike Heck)
Monday
- Li Jingliang to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 on September 10th (per UFC announcement)
- Raphael Assuncao to fight Victor Henry at UFC event on October 15th (per UFC announcement)
- Mike Davis to fight Uros Medic at UFC event on October 1st (per David Van Auken)
On this day in MMA…
On the 23rd of August, 2015, Charles Oliveira sustained a life-threatening esophagus tear in his UFC Fight Night 74 bout with Max Holloway.
After a short grappling sequence that forced a sudden twist of Oliveira’s head, the Brazilian clutched his neck and fell to the ground, with referee Herb Dean stopping the action shortly thereafter.
Oliveira lost all feeling to parts of his body, later claiming: “when I fell against the cage, everything went numb. I couldn’t feel my body.” He was transported out of the ring that night with a neck brace and a stretcher.
He would make a full recovery and return just four months later.
