Russian heavyweight contender Alexander “Drago” Volkov needed a little over two minutes to bounce back from his recent defeat as he returned to form with an impressive first-round finish of Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC Vegas 56.
The pair went head to head in the main event at the UFC Apex in a battle of fringe heavyweight contenders who both needed a win to right the ship after recent setbacks. Volkov was looking to bounce back after his straight armlock submission defeat to Tom Aspinall in London in March, and he did just that with an impressive display of striking to overwhelm knockout artist Rozenstruik, who fell to his second straight loss following his defeat to Curtis Blaydes in 2021.
The co-main event saw undefeated Russian featherweight contender Movsar Evloev add another decision win – and another UFC name – to his growing resume as he claimed a shutout decision win over Dan Ige.
Evloev’s technical capabilities across striking and grappling proved just too much for Ige as he won every round on all three of the judges’ scorecards to earn a dominant decision win.
Then, after his victory, he called for a fight against English featherweight contender Arnold Allen, labelling the Brit “scared” and promising to finish him if they meet at UFC London on July 23.
The event marked the occasion of Karine Silva’s octagon debut, and the Brazilian scored an impressive first-round submission finish of Poliana Botelho to get her UFC career off to a flying start.
Silva, who earned her shot in the UFC with a second-round submission victory on Dana White’s Contender Series, went one round better as she finished Botelho with a D’Arce choke with five seconds remaining in the first round.
The victory extended “Killer’s” win streak to six and announced her arrival in the women’s flyweight division in style.
The card also saw impressive first-round finishes from Ode Osbourne and Alonzo Menifield, while on the preliminary card, Tony Gravely also scored a first-round finish with an upper-cut KO of Johnny Munoz.
Kowalkiewicz defeats retiring Herrig
The featured prelim also saw the final bout of the career of Felice Herrig, who lost out to a resurgent Karolina Kowalkiewicz in their women’s strawweight clash.
Herrig looked all business during fight week, but when the fight got underway it was former title challenger Kowalkiewicz who had the upper hand a she claimed a second-round submission finish via rear-naked choke.
After her defeat, Herrig laid down her gloves in the centre of the octagon and confirmed her retirement in her post-fight interview with Paul Felder.
UFC Vegas 56: Official Results
MAIN CARD
- Alexander Volkov def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:12
- Movsar Evloev def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Lucas Almeida def. Mike Trizano via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:55
- Karine Silva def. Poliana Botelho via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 4:55
- Ode Osbourne def. Zarrukh Adashev via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:01
- Alonzo Menifield def. Askhar Mozharov via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 4:40
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Felice Herrig via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:01
- Joe Solecki def. Alex da Silva via majority decision (28-28, 28-27, 29-27)
- Damon Jackson def. Daniel Argueta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Benoit Saint-Denis def. Niklas Stolze via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:32
- Tony Gravely def. Johnny Munoz via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:08
- Jeff Molina def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Andreas Michailidis via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Erin Blanchfield def. JJ Aldrich via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:38
Photo credit: UFC
