This is the UFC 321 live blog for Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida, the main card heavyweight bout Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Volkov stands tall at No. 3 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, with Almeida a few spots behind at No. 7.
Were it not for a controversial split decision loss to Ciryl Gane, it might be Volkov (38-11) fighting for the title in Saturday’s main event. That result snapped a four-fight win streak for Volkov, but he can get right back into the No. 1 contender discussion with a win over Almeida. During his winning run, Volkov scored victories over ranked heavyweights Sergei Pavlovich, Tai Tuivasa, Alexander Romanov, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Almeida (22-3) rebounded from his first UFC loss (a KO at the hands of Curtis Blaydes) to record back-t0-back fast finishes of Romanov and Serghei Spivac. That’s now six first-round finishes in eight UFC wins for Almeida, who has gone do the scorecards just twice in his 25-fight career.
Check out the UFC 321 live blog for Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida below.
Barring a borefest, this has to put one of these men in line for a title shot. Almeida has shrugged off the Lewis win and the Blaydes loss that hurt his stock, and Volkov should have won that decision over Gane. Let’s keep the heavyweight line moving, please.
Almeida a near 2-to-1 favorite on FanDuel, with Volkov coming in as a +166 underdog.
Round 1: Marc Goddard the referee for this one. Seconds into the fight, Almeida shoots and gets the takedown. And so it begins. Volkov gets a warning for landing short elbows to the back of Almeida’s head. Almeida already in half guard, Volkov looks calm. Almeida wants to control the head to advance, but Volkov leaving few openings. Almeida grabs a wrist to shake Volkov’s balance, not much there. Almeida still on top.
Sweep by Volkov and now they’re in more of a 50-50 position (not a 50/50 position, shout-out Ryan Hall). Volkov taking control and he lands a couple of elbows. Not much to score here, but Volkov is the one who’s done damage in this round. Almeida working to get up while still holding on to Volkov’s leg. Volkov just sits down on him and he’s back on top landing elbows. Great resilience from the Russian veteran.
More elbows from Volkov to close a round he ended up running away with.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Volkov.
Round 2: Nice right hand from Almeida to start the round and then he immediately gets a takedown. Almeida working to advance, but where’s the damage? He’s focused solely on passing and Volkov isn’t letting him. Volkov even scraping him with elbows from bottom position. Slick move from Almeida to get side control and now he has Volkov’s back. The towering Volkov just stands up, but Almeida stays glued to him. Big moment here for both fighters.
Good defense from Volkov, who works back to half guard. Almeida winning this round, but still not initiating much significant offense from top position. Goddard calls for a standup. Hmm. Didn’t matter as Almeida explodes for a takedown and puts Volkov on his back with over a minute remaining.
Stalemate as Volkov looks to pull out an arm from bottom position. Almeida hanging on to his own shorts to block Volkov. Almeida round, just.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Almeida. Overall, 19-19.
Round 3: Volkov advances with a couple of punches, Almeida goes for a takedown and Volkov reverses, he has Almeida balancing on one leg against the fence. Knee to the body by Volkov. And another. Almeida needs to get out of there. Volkov stuffs a double leg, but Almeida pushes through and there’s the takedown.
Volkov staying busy on bottom. Weird one to score because he’s not landing anything significant, but Almeida isn’t throwing any strikes from top position. Volkov throwing up a triangle, quickly unraveled by Almeida. Finally a hammerfist from Almeida. There’s another short punch from Almeida. Smothering grappling from Almeida, even with Volkov working hard to stand or improve position.
Almeida on Volkov’s back with a minute remaining in the fight. Volkov throwing a lot from bottom position, no clue how the judges are seeing this. Awkward moment as Goddard calls for a standup and Almeida sneaks in a hard punch. One more takedown from Almeida to close the fight. Might have done enough to take another round and the fight.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Almeida. Overall, 29-28 Almeida.
Official result: Alexander Volkov def. Jailton Almeida via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)
After the fight, Volkov says it was hard to do anything Almeida and he feels he was more active on the ground.
“It doesn’t matter. Now who is next, heavyweight No. 1 contender, it’s me. Fight wasn’t so good, but I won, I deserve it.”
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