https://youtube.com/watch?v=MTwTd6ab4Ew
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[Music] Senator C up all right gentlemen we’ve been over the rules protect the sh at all times follow my instructions we’re going to keep this clean touch gloves let’s do it our last stop as we close out International fight week [Music] 2023 seemingly as loud and festive as this T-Mobile Arena has ever been gets pretty loud for those Vegas golden kns but it has been special to say the least inside this building tonight and now two Champions at 145 lbs we’ll trim that down to one yaa Rodriguez wearing the green and gold volkanovski is in the black and gold Main Event underway [Applause] you see vul trying to switch stances he doesn’t want to give y that split stance to open up that body kick vul said he’s not going to give Rodriguez time to work Yer not surprised he acknowledged that vul’s going to have to pressure him he’s got to get past that reach and that reach when it comes to kicks is very significant yeah [Applause] [Applause] vul playing with the footwork Rodriguez goes High blazes the arm of volkanovski oh that was a fast question mark kick right there he comes out of nowhere banovski certainly got a lot of long talented Strikers to work with in Australia New Zealand PL Diamond was a big asset during this [Applause] Camp yep nice take down by panowski said that he needed to be very careful with throwing blind kicks because both would take him down Rodriguez does not need a settle here though he needs to try to work his way back to his feet get his feet inside butterfly guard feet at the hips something to try to elevate the hips to Alexander V and interesting that vulk is pressing him towards the cage he’s moving him towards the Octagon cage he put him right in front of his corner and we have seen at times y struggle with guys that continuously take him down well certainly back in the day Frankie Edgar fight is a great example of [Applause] that you hear the corner saying they want him Square Against the Cage they want to limit his movement and just beat him up on his somebody just sounds like a woman’s boy just said get your feet on his hip to push him up that’s some real good advice right there came in clear oh it’s Julian pñ that lady’s got a voice two minutes here to go in round one an early taked down for volkanovski reactively he’s got y’s head turned sideways which limits his movement the way he’s got him Pressed Against the Cage very [Applause] smart and you could tell that that’s in the plan because the corner of volovski was telling him smash him get octed on side he’s got the Cradle y’s got him onto a single banovski is so physically strong I mean look at his back and that was one of the most impressing things impressive things about the Islam fight because Islam was so strong at 155 lbs the fact that volovski was able to Grapple with him successfully which is insane could hold him down and now vog star to open up with ground strikes [Applause] here already three takedown secured on four attempts through four minutes Rodriguez trying to pick his spots with strike arm triang looking for an arm triangle and this is we rarely see this in volovski oh he’s if he can clear his hips this could be real danger oh y you’re defended last submission win for vul December 2015 that’s pre-ufc yep I talked to Alexander banovski and I said I remember when you were fighting back early in your UFC career you fought another kid if Alex had won a ton of fights in row and the kid he fought had a ton of fight what was the other what was the kid’s name you mean his first loss are you talking about no I’m talking about in the UFC there was another kid that was from the East Coast kind of looked like Alexander banovski they fought and it’s just so easy for him not to have had the success going forward but when I looked at him and I said that he goes yeah everything happens for a reason 5 minutes in the [Applause] camp so here’s a a shot that cut from the bottom him because you have a long win streak pre UFC it doesn’t always work this guy doesn’t lose he’s won his entire life and he starts with another dominant first round by taking y Rodriguez down pretty significant cut on the left side for volkanovski doesn’t appear to be in too bad a place I didn’t see exactly what opened him up but he had a cut under his his right eye all week y he’s wearing a Bandy but this is what Yer needs to do more kicks from range when yayer gets kicking on the outside it’s it’s just a wild thing to see look at y’s body wow wow volkanovski as yet avoiding those big weapons of Rodriguez as you said he had blood diamond come in to prepare him for this fight who fights and can fight in a very similar style very unpredictable kickboxer especially you just striking with him yeah right if you’re not taking him down and you’re just standing with blood diamond that’s tough beautiful low kick there yeah’s doing a good job of maintaining distance very smart banovski got to find his way inside the range and when he’s inside the range he’s got to get back to the grapple Rodriguez the [Applause] win mistake here by Rodriguez trying to reach across took his back Rodriguez nearly got away with the fence grab it matters [Music] not Rodriguez right back up to his feet though very nicely done hang on him he’s got to fight the hands volosi got to keep working his way towards the back here he’s got to keep that seat belt with the left hand beautiful trip great job by V five takedowns on eight attempts under three minutes here in round two what a percentage five of eight takedowns crazy for Alexander vulcanos big elbows from the top by the champ [Music] okay right Rodriguez’s toe got stuck in the trunks of volkanovski for a minute he’s got I mean volcanos is doing a great job of not letting yir Rodriguez start his Escape process he’s got to keep that forward pressure going and then change the direction there it is see how he’s dragging him to the mat there he’s kind of hanging on yayer right Ruez and Rodriguez has been opened up get your fingers out the that’s your last warning not sure if Rodriguez’s cauliflower ear exploded or he got cut by one of those vski strikes banovski just doing a fantastic job of maintaining control in the ground Landing his ground and pound controlling the fight well we saw him win that round against makev and keep him down you know coming back down to 145 could you imagine all the strength he put on to go up maintaining that strength he must feel like a bear to these guys at featherweight this the fifth defense tonight for volkanovski trying to pass prevented from doing so by Rodriguez we’ve always heard that V could wrestle we’ve never seen him do it as the first option or not as much tonight he’s relying on it and it’s working beautifully he was a national wrestling gold medalist in Australia back in the day one minute to go in the round and just domination so far for banovski big ground and pound by the champion oh lot of blood on the face of Y Rodriguez yeah most definitely a cut of some kind around that left eyebrow I think it’s the left eyebrow and also the left ear yep oh right hand got through for banovski look at vul’s left hand though he’s kind of holding him in a collar tie yeah in throwing those punches yeah’s trying to roll out of it but vulk flows with him vul is just kind of Big Brother in them right now he’s beating him up they are going to have to do something different in the Rodriguez [Applause] corner it has been a bloody Night Main Event following sup right here you see the elbows Landing from volcanos on Top Cut Sher Rodriguez another one just dropping nasty elbows I mean Alexander Vulcan is a monster he’s just on top he’s just nasty time okay this is a hard warning you grab the fence you stuck your fingers inside the glove don’t bring me into this fight strong words by Herb Dean yeah a couple of different warnings in there round three of a possible five we’ll see if Rodriguez can rally here in round three he’s got to do something big on the feet cuz on the ground he’s getting dominated yes and if he’s going to get taken down he better let it all fly while he’s up because he has not been able to get back up when banaski takes him down so he better throw everything he can while he’s [Applause] standing great vision by volovski seeing these kicks coming now vul attacks the body Rodriguez with a flurry trying to wrap that kick around partially lands [Applause] it that’s a big right from bulk bulanowski is one of those guys generally the shorter athlete has to be the one pressing he’s one of the rare guys that shorter that can counter you he does such a great job of creating angles when you enter that he can land and make you miss as the longer after he just did it against Shyer he did it him against Max M last fight it was the big difference the thing that separated them between the fight before that which was very close he cut him open on a lot of counter strikes Browski perpetually switching up his footwork continuously giving new looks to Rodriguez y’s got to open up on the feet yeah you know when you yir expected vinoski to pressure him right now he’s not getting pressure so it’s almost freezing him because he’s seeing a different style of fight than he expected and he’s not getting active because when he does try to go forward he gets countered oh there it is Big Shot The Champ acknowledged it and now body kick from Rodriguez good low kick by The Champ level change coming from [Applause] Fu and just when Joe called for it Rodriguez starting to open up V’s trying to trap him he’s trying look at that he’s closing distance at every time he cuts him off gets him close to the Octagon side trying to set him up to try to get a take down couple of swings and misses by Rodriguez nice elbow from banovski [Music] good leg kick by Rodriguez Rodriguez is having a good round that front kick up the middle is money oh good step in Right Hook by the champ stop is that an eye poke no headbutt yeah head Clash [Applause] [Music] [Applause] sorry take a look at it oh yeah right on the jaw oh man yeah it’s not good that was a rough one and it hits you on the chin like that it’s just like taking a big punch you ready right on the money take your time you good oh man that’s vicious uh uh remember when those used to be legal Mark Coleman was the king of that Mark yeah and Mark’s crazy Mark out the head butt people man Godfather of grounded P yeah Hammer house Hammer house all right back underway under two minutes in round [Applause] three whoa has had y has had a lot of success in this round with his with his kicks you’s got to keep doing that just like that combination that’s that y Style Oh Land a head kick and it is interesting banovski DC in our fighter meeting oh oh he stung him big right for vul oh Rodriguez really hurt now covering up massive taked down transition vul is going for it oh my goodness yeah he is in real trouble yeah he is okay that’s it it’s over look like herdan was trying to close the distance that’ll do it and still Alexander banovski stops Shyer Rodriguez wow what else can you say about the pound-for-pound king another title defense and arguably his most dangerous Challenger Falls by the boards that’s crazy this guy’s P pound number one he’s the best he is the best pfor pound fighter in the world hands down he show it’s hard to deny it especially that razor thin decision loss to Mak that a lot of people thought he could have won he went to 55 fought the champ well comes back down to 45 dominat guys p p and there’s not really a big standout Contender let’s take a look at it there it is that counter that’s that counter Joe you saw it oh my goodness look at that right hook perfectly placed right hook really wobbled him when y Smiles you know he’s in trouble knee and digs to the body uppercut dumps him gets on top and just smash just so smart right he could have emptied the gas tank just throwing punches at the arms of Yer Rodriguez instead he level change throws him down and just puts it on it news tremendous man and there’s the reaction in New South Wales that was a master class a masterpiece and we’ve come to expect those from Alexander volkanovski Hunter Campbell just went over by the way happy birthday to our executive Hunter Campbell he just went over and said to volkanovski incredible I’m going to figure out what’s next vulk was hoping to fight four times in 2023 as Israel adisan reacts there made me PR very hard I did not ever take you I didn’t take you easy trust me you may your schools made me train High like with yeah I just like I said I train real hard you make me train real hard I knew this was a tough one you’re very dangerous volkanovski told us in the fighter meeting that he felt like his goal of four fights this year was out of the question and all likely he’ll get at least one more yes but this was a challenger that a lot of people felt like could end this rign and volovski made a major statement it was I mean it didn’t look like it very quickly right the moment the fight and he started going this guy just showed that he’s next level especi at this weight class all right one final time tonight here’s Bruce Buffer ladies and gentlemen referee herb Deans called a stop to this contest at 4 minutes 19 seconds of round number four declaring the winner by TKO and still the Undisputed UFC featherweight champion of the world Alexander the Great [Applause] Banos