UFC 251 Full Fight Video: Watch Alexander Volkanovski Beat Max Holloway
The first meeting between Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski took place at UFC 245. The bout served as the co-headliner of that December fight card. Holloway carried the UFC featherweight title with him that night, Volkanovski was the No. 1 ranked contender in the official UFC featherweight rankings.
Holloway had no dropped a featherweight bout since Conor McGregor defeated Holloway in 2013. He had defended the 145-pound title three times. Volkanovski. who debuted with the UFC in 2016, was on a seven-fight winning streak. The odds favored the champion. Holloway was a -200 favorite over Volkanovski, who entered the octagon as a +170 underdog.
If anyone wandered what Volkanovski’s game plan was going to be for the bout, that plan became obvious early. Volkanovski landed 27 significant strikes in the first round. Thirteen of those strikes were leg kicks. The challenger was more successful with those kicks in the second stanza when 22 of his 28 landed strikes were leg kicks. Volkanovski’s kicks allowed him to make up the difference in height between the two fighters.
Holloway did better with his offense in the fourth and fifth rounds, but the fighters were very close to each other in strikes landed during that 10-minutes of octagon time.
When the Bruce Buffer read the scores for the fight, it was Volkanovski who had his hand raised in victory.
Tonight, the two fighters meet again. The bout serves as the co-main event of UFC 251 from “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. This time Volkanovski enters the contest as the champion and Holloway as the challenger.
UFC 251 takes place tonight at Fight Island on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The pay-per-view card streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 251 is headlined by three title fights. In the main event, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. In the co-headliner, UFC featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski faces Max Holloway. A third title fight between Petr Yan and Jose Aldo is also on the card.
