By Dave Doyle |
June 20, 2020 11: 31 pm
Curtis Blaydes continues steamrolling any heavyweight opposition in the UFC no longer named Francis Ngannou.
The Chicago standout had even handed one of his most impressive victories up to now Saturday evening as he overwhelmed mature Bellator champion Alexander Volkov for the better section of 25 minutes in the principle event of UFC on ESPN 11.
Blaydes went the gap — capture or lose — for the first time in his occupation and placement a UFC heavyweight file with 14 takedowns along the style as he earned a unanimous decision. The judges’ rankings on the UFC Apex in Las Vegas contain been 49-46, 48-47, 49-46.
It used to be the fourth straight capture for Blaydes, whose only UFC defeats in 11 fights contain been a pair to Ngannou.
“It used to be an acceptable experience to movement 25 minutes,” Blaydes acknowledged. “I know there are things I gotta work on, nonetheless a capture is a capture. I know I want to work on my conditioning after the third spherical. I’m comfy with the capture. Volkov is legit.”
Blaydes (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) wasted tiny time taking Volkov (31-8 MMA, 5-2 UFC) to the mat early in the outlet spherical, and that used to be the starting of what is going to need to contain looked indulge in a lifeless-movement nightmare for his Russian foe. Blaydes stayed on Volkov’s wait on indulge in an oversized Khabib Nurmagomedov, dragging him wait on to the mat each time Volkov bought to his toes.
Within the 2d, Volkov tried to make suppose of his reach advantage to implement his hanging sport. But Blaydes fearlessly waded in and popped Volkov with an overhand, then resumed his ground assault.
It grew to change into into a rinse-and-repeat performance, as Blaydes scored takedowns early in the third and fourth. His 12th takedown of the fight, two minutes into Round 4, location a brand contemporary UFC file for takedowns in a heavyweight bout.
With a minute left in the fourth, referee Herb Dean called for a abnormal standup. Volkov had his finest moments of the fight, touchdown solid knees and scoring a takedown.
Blaydes looked tired in the beginning of the fifth, and Volkov did his finest to attach shut the capture. But Blaydes regrouped and scored two more takedowns, bringing his UFC occupation complete to 59, to seal the deal.
Volkov has dropped two of his past three.
Total results from UFC on ESPN 11:
Curtis Blaydes def. Alexander Volkov by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 49-46)
Josh Emmett def. Shane Burgos by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Raquel Pennington def. Marion Reneau by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Jim Miller def. Roosevelt Roberts by submission (armbar) — Round 1, 2: 25
Bobby Green def. Clay Guida by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Tecia Torres def. Brianna Van Buren by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Marc-Andre Barriault def. Oskar Piechota by TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4: 50
Gillian Robertson def. Cortney Casey by submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4: 32
Justin Jaynes def. Frank Camacho by TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0: 41
Lauren Murphy def. Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Austin Hubbard def. Max Rohskopf by TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 2, 5: 00
Alexander Volkov, Breaking, Curtis Blaydes, UFC on ESPN 11, Featured, News, UFC
