Recap of UFC 266: Volkanovski retains, Lawler spoils Diaz's return and Valentina is unstoppable

          What a great night of fights UFC 266 turned out to be, I figured it would be after looking at the card the UFC put together but sometimes it doesn't deliver, this time it sure as shit did. From top to bottom there was a ton of amazing fights to watch and for the most part? I'd say the UFC delivered and delivered big. Between the Return of Nick Diaz after a 6 year absence away from the sport and two title fights to finish the night? What more could a UFC fan want? Let's recap the main card and anything else that really stood out on this card.


MAIN EVENT: Alexander Volkanovski defeats Brian Ortega via TKO (Featherweight title)
This fight was fucking incredible, an absolute war. Both guys showed tremendous heart, Volkanovski weathered a couple really deep submission attempts by Ortega and then when the champ got out of those submissions he was pissed, reigning blows on Ortega and dominating him. Once Ortega couldn't get those submissions you could almost tell the belt was staying with the champ. Volkanovski just  weaponizes his pace and he looked incredible last night and I for one cannot wait to see the trilogy fight v's Max.

CO-MAIN EVENT: Valentina Shevchenko defeats Lauren Murphy via TKO (Flyweight title)
Not really much to say here to be honest and I'm not trying to sound like a dick but I never thought Murphy had any kind of shot against "The Bullet". Murphy could not do a thing against Valentina and she did whatever and whenever she wanted to. In the 4th she landed a combo with a head kick to drop Murphy and finished her with blows on the ground. Murphy literally could not do a fucking thing.

Robbie Lawler defeats Nick Diaz via TKO
I tell you what, for the first round of this fight I was grinning like an absolute fucking child. These two were just throwing at each other the entire first round. Just like old times, Lawler and Diaz were in a war and the crowd fuckin loveeeeedddd it. The pace Lawler put on, there was no way Diaz was going to be able to keep up, especially after being out for over 6 years. In round 2 Lawler knocked down Diaz and Nick kind of waved the fight off himself. I'm not sure what happened, he grabbed his knee for a brief second, it looks like his nose was broken, I honestly don't know. Hats off to both men for putting on an absolute show for everyone watching.

Curtis Blaydes defeats Jairzinho Rozenstruik via UD
Not really much to talk about here, the fans booed Blaydes for basically playing it safe against Jairzinho but to be honest I don't hate it against a guy with his punching power. Was it the prettiest fight? Nope. Did he get a much needed win? Yup. Don't boo the guy for doing what he did to get the win, good for Blaydes for getting himself back into the win column.

Jessica Andrade deafts Cynthia Calvillo via TKO
Kind of the same stuff with these girls, Andrade will win any fight but a title one. Calvillo will win every fight but a marquee one. Cynthia is an incredible fighter but she just can't seem to get that marquee win under belt and just keeps coming up short with the spotlight on her. Andrade is just an absolute beast, unless she fights for a belt. Outside of the fluke slam win for the belt over Rose, Andrade is basically just racking up big wins that end up amounting to nothing.




OTHER NOTABLES:

Merab Dvalishvili defeats Marlon Moraes via TKO
What a god damn fight, Marlon completely empties the gas tank in the first round after he wobbles Merab but just cannot finish him. Merab ends up coming back and finishing Marlon in round 2 for the TKO win. Merab is a dangerous guy in the batamweight division and you better start putting some respect on this guys name.

Dan Hooker defats Nasrat Haqparast via UD
Hooker with a huge bounce back performance after his loss to Michael Chandler. Hooker owned this fight and had his way with Nasrat. He landed on the feet and even took him down and controlled the ground game too. Just an overall perfect performance by Hooker and it showed on the judges score cards, one judge even score one round a 10-8 one.

Chris Daukaus defeats Shamil Abdurakhimov via TKO
Chris Daukaus is a name to watch out for in the UFC heavyweight division, he has absolute dynamite in his hands and is so fun to watch. Just dominating Shamil on the feet throwing heavy bombs until he knocked him down and finished him with elbows and punches.


An overaall awesome night of fights. I think for the champ Alex Volkanovski it's gotta be the trilogy fight with Max "blessed" Holloway, everyone needs and wants to see it. As for Ortega I'd love to see him go against Calvin Kattar, would be a matchup of styles and both guys are coming off losses. Shevchenko? Who the hell knows what's next for her looking at the rankings she's beat them all and frankly I am not sure who can beat her or even pose any kind of threat.