Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski further established himself as the dominant force in the featherweight division by comfortably defeating ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung in the championship main event of UFC 273 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Sunday morning.
The Australian sealed a TKO victory early in the fourth round, having dominated the fight throughout with the incredible speed of his striking – and a few takedowns thrown in – to totally outclass a brave but beaten Chan.
Referee Herb Dean sensibly waved off the fight 45 seconds into the penultimate round after the Zombie was wobbled by two thunderous overhand rights from the champion, having suffered a brutal ground and pound at the end of the third round.
"He took a lot more than I wanted him to, I thought they should have stopped it earlier, but that’s the sport we’re in," said Volkanovski in his post-fight interview. The 33-year-old then called on the rest of the division to "get your s*** together, earn a number one ranking and you’ll get it [a title shot]".
The co-main event was a chess game between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan, with the former taking the victory via split decision – thanks to his superior skills on the ground – and becoming the undisputed bantamweight champion, having first claimed the belt last year when the pair met at UFC 259 and his Russian opponent was disqualified for an illegal knee strike.
‘Aljo’ went on to call out TJ Dillashaw as his next opponent, but the close nature of this match surely suggests that a trilogy could be in store. “I won the fight, I was robbed,” said Yan in his post-fight interview.
The rest of the main card saw Mark Madsen defeat Vinc Pichel via unanimous decision in the lightweight division; Mackenzie Dern edged Tecia Torres via split decision in a women’s strawweight bout; and Khamzat Chimaev continued his incredible rise to prominence in the welterweight division with a unanimous decision win over number two ranked Gilbert Burns in an incredible stand-up war.
The next UFC event is a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday 17 April, headlined by a welterweight clash between Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad.
UFC 273 – Main card results
- Main event: Featherweight championship: Alexander Volkanovski def. Chan Sung Jung via TKO (punches), R4, 0:45
- Co-main: Bantamweight championship: Aljamain Sterling def. Petr Yan via split decision (48-47 47-48 48-47), R5, 5:00
- Welterweight: Khamzat Chimaev def. Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Women’s strawweight: Mackenzie Dern def. Tecia Torres via split decision (28-29 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Lightweight: Mark Madsen def. Vinc Pichel via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 29-28), R3, 5:00