The Vystar Arena in Jacksonville, FL was home to a great evening of fights at UFC 273. The card saw two (T)KOs, one submission and 9 decisions, including two split-decisions.
FOTN: Chimaev vs. Burns
POTN: Volkanovski, Oleinik
The Fight Pass card kicked off the event with a sensational fight between Julio Arce and Daniel Santos that saw Arce victorious after a dominant performance over a very game Santos. Piera Rodriguez notched a unanimous decision over Kay Hansen who struggled in the first two rounds but started righting the ship a little too late in the third. Aleksei Oleinik proved oddsmakers wrong when he secured a nasty neck-crank on Jared Vanderaa, handing him his third, straight loss.
Fight Pass Card
Aleksei Oleinik defeated Jared Vanderaa via neck crank, 3:39 of round 1
Piera Rodriguez defeated Kay Hansen via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Julio Arce defeated Daniel Santos via UD (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
The regular prelims opened with Mike Mallot absolutely starching Mickey Gall in the first round, the result of a left hook that came straight from Jupiter. That was followed by Raquel Pennington having a pretty dominant performance over Aspen Ladd, handing the 27-year-old her second loss in a row. Anthony Hernandez would earn his second, straight win after putting Josh Fremd in the Fremd Zone with a unanimous decision victory. Ian Garry scoring a unanimous decision after a dominant performance over Darian Weeks that revolved around volume and where the bigger shots in the fight belonged to him. A solid end to the undercard.
Preliminary Card
Mike Malott defeated Mickey Gall via TKO (left hook), 3:41 of round 1
Raquel Pennington def. Aspen Ladd via UD (29-28×3)
Anthony Hernandez def. Josh Fremd via UD (30-27×2, 29-28)
Ian Garry def. Darian Weeks via UD (30-27×2, 29-28)
The main card opened with Vince Pichel and Mark Madsen putting on a tough, gritty fight that was neck-and-neck after two rounds, but it would be Madsen taking the unanimous decision in the end. Tecia Torres and Mackenzie Dern put on a fun fight that also ended up looking like it was dead even after two, but Dern took the somewhat controversial split-decision after a super gritty, ugly third round. Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns put on an outstanding fight that saw Chimaev take the first, Gilbert take the second and the third round being close with both men heaping damage upon each other—all the way through the fight, actually—with the Russian taking the unanimous decision over Number 2-ranked Burns.
The co-main event was a great battle between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. Aljo came on strong in the first three rounds, scoring takedowns and threatening with submissions. Yan came on strong in the last two rounds, but in the end, the split-decision would go to Sterling, making him, once again, the undisputed bantamweight champion. And still.
The main event was a “seminar” to use Joe Rogan’s words, and he was correct. Alexander Volkanovski absolutely mauled Korean Zombie from about the two-minute point onward. I say the two-minute mark because not much happened in those first couple minutes while they got a feel for each other. The tale of the fight was about speed and movement, two things Volkanovski had in droves and Zombie seemed to have none of. “The Great” looks unstoppable with his superior instincts, speed and fight IQ. Outstanding performance.
Main Card
Mark Madsen def. Vinc Pichel via UD (30-27×2, 29-28)
Mackenzie Dern def. Tecia Torres via SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Khamzat Chimaev def. Gilbert Burns via UD (29-28×3)
Aljamain Sterling def. Petr Yan via SD (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Alexander Volkanovski def. Chan Sung Jung via TKO 0:45 of round 4
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