There was no need to arrive late at UFC 294. In the main event of the evening, Khamzat Chimaev only needed one round to knock out Alexander Volkanovski. In the other important fight this Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Khamzat Chimaev dominated Kamaru Usman by majority decision of the judges. The summary.
We expected a summit at the end of the evening. We barely had the right to a little confrontation. Lightweight world champion and grandmaster of the category, Makhachev (24-1) remained on a victory at UFC 284, in February, over the same Volkanovski, featherweight champion, by unanimous decision of the judges. A ground specialist (11 wins out of 24 by submission), Makhachev nevertheless surprised his opponent in the first round with a high kick.
On his second attempt at the same move, Makhachev ended up hitting his opponent in the head on a back leg highkick that ended up just above Volkanovski’s glove. The Australian, knocked out standing, staggered before collapsing and receiving, unconscious, a volley of hooks. Marc Goddard, the referee of the match, quickly intervened to announce the end of the fight and the first knockout suffered in Volkanovski’s career. Makhachev is still good the king in his category.
In the other interesting fight of the evening, Khamzat Chimaev dominated the Nigerian Kamaru Usman, former holder of the welterweight belt, by majority decision of the judges. Undefeated in the octagon before this fight (12-0), Chimaev crushed his opponent as usual from the first seconds to take the exchanges of blows or on the ground for his own account. A logical victory for the Chechen who opens the doors to a fight for the -84 kg title. Usman, unfortunately, signs a third consecutive defeat and is now very far from his highest level, at 36 years old…
