The UFC returned to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi after a year to stage UFC 267 in the Etihad Arena. Glover Teixeira submitted Jan Blachowicz to become the new LHW champion at the age of 42. At the co-main event, Petr Yan defeated Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision to win the interim bantamweight title and lock in his rematch against Aljamain Sterling. Let’s have a look at some of the highlights from the event.
▶ Khamzat is back ladies and gentlemen!
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After spending months battling COVID19, Khamzat Chimaev is back and the UFC welterweight division better take notice. The fighter from Sweden takes his unbeaten run in MMA to 10-0 after putting Li Jingliang to sleep after just 3:16 of round 1. After he ducked a punch, Chimaev pushed Li towards the cage and before taking him down he yelled at UFC President Dana White before taking his opponent to the ground. In the post-fight octagon interview, he said, “ I could’ve taken him down early but I wanted to talk to Dana White. He was reaching for his phone or something but brother, don’t miss my flight!”. A fact about Chimaev that is hard to digest is that he has only been connected with one significant strike in his last four fights.
▶ Alexander Volkov is back to winning ways
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After an embarrassing defeat to current interim heavyweight champion Cyril Gane, Alexander Volkov is finally back to winning ways after a unanimous decision win over Marcin Tybura. The Russian showed off his brilliant striking skills with his range advantage and better accuracy which got the job done. In the final round, Volkov upped his volume and started landing more punches and was way better than Tybura who had a couple of moments in Round 3 but none of them were effective. With that win, Volkov now moves to 3-1 in his past 4 fights and ended Tybura’s five-fight win streak.
▶ Islam Makhachev: The Hype is real
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With social media sensation and close friend – Hasbulla on his ringside, Islam Makhachev extended his win streak to nine by taking Dan Hooker down early and tapping him out via kimura at 2:25 minutes of Round 1. Some would say, seeing him fight on Saturday reminded everyone of his trainer and former Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Now only one question remains which is whether Makhachev is ready for a title shot. In the post-fight octagon interview, he said, “ Now it’s time. Before it was like top 11 or top 15 but this guy is #6. Now I have to talk. Nine-fight win streak, I am ready for a title fight. Please, anyone, it doesn’t matter because this division now is a little bit sleepy. I am working hard and have worked in this division.”
▶ Is Petr Yan the best in 135lbs?
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Petr Yan who lost his Bantamweight Championship to Aljamain Sterling due to an illegal knee may have established himself as one of the best fighters the division has ever seen when he won the interim bantamweight championship against Cory Sandhagen with the judges scoring 49-46 on all three cards. One of the best moves in the fight for Yan came in Round 3 where he landed a spinning back fist to the chin and followed it up with a left hook which put Sandhagen on the canvas, which Yan capitalized on and landed some heavy blows from top position which made it clear that it was his night. After the fight, Yan said, “ It’s very nice the second time becoming the champion in Abu Dhabi. It has become like my home right now. Everyone knows I am the real champion. I am here and ready to fight anyone. It will either be Dillashaw or Sterling.”
▶ UFC now has a 42-year-old Light Heavyweight Champion
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In a surprising turn of events, Glover Teixeira submitted Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 267 to win the UFC Light Heavyweight title. The 42-year-old Brazilian who fought for the title only once before in 2014, displayed incredible grappling skills to take apart the champion before landing massive strikes and taking Jan’s back to set up a rear-naked choke for the win. As things stand, it appears that the veteran will now meet top contender Jiri Prochazka next after the challenger was cage-side for the event.
[Featured Image Credit: UFC]
Shashank Iyer