Volkanovski retains title against Ortega

The champion successfully defended his belt, surviving multiple submission attempts, in a fight of the year candidate; remember UFC 266 is a Star+ exclusive event, subscribe here.
In a legitimate Fight of the Year candidate, champion Alexander Volkanovski successfully defended his featherweight title against Mexican-American Brian Ortega in the UFC 266 main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Volkanovski scored the second successful defense of his belt by a wide unanimous decision in a back-and-forth fight that at times appeared tighter than the judges rated it after five rounds.

Both Volkanovski and Ortega engaged in a stand-up brawl at the start of the bout, exchanging punches, a strategy that favored the champion even though the challenger had landed more punches after two rounds.

For the third it was Volkanovski who began to overwhelm with his volume of punches while Ortega sought to take the fight to the canvas, looking to exploit his greatest strength: Brazilian jiu jitsu.

On the ground Ortega sought by all means the submission, but Volkanovski did not yield in any of his attempts, including a triangle and anaconda, leaving the Mexican American at the mercy of the champion’s punishment.

At the beginning of the fourth round, the referee entered the octagon to check Ortega, who had an inflammation in his eye as a result of the blows.

However, Ortega was unsuccessful and fell by the wayside in his attempt to claim the 145-pound title, with the judges giving 49-46, 50-45 and 50-44 scorecards, all in favor of Volkanovski.

The final stats favored the champion with 229 total punches landed to Ortega’s 101, in power punches the difference was 214 to 88 for Volkanovski, while the only two knockdowns of the night went to the Mexican-American.

With this victory, Volkanovski improves his record to 23-1, with 20 wins in a row, while Ortega suffered the second loss of his career, both in championship fights, to stagnate at 15-2.