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Thoughts and analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC Fight Night 184, which took place Saturday in Las Vegas.
What mattered most at UFC Fight Night 184 on Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
Alistair Overeem releases statement following TKO loss to Alexander Volkov.
Things didn’t go [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag]’s way Saturday night.
The longtime UFC heavyweight contender suffered a TKO loss to Alexander Volkov (33-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 184 in Las Vegas. Overeem (47-19 MMA, 13-8 UFC) was stopped in the second round after getting bloodied and battered on the feet by the Russian in the first round.
Overeem, who saw the end of a two-fight winning streak with the loss, revealed in an Instagram statement Sunday he suffered a broken nose in the first round.
“You’re a true warrior (Alexander Volkov) Congrats on the win!” Overeem wrote on Instagram. “Yesterday wasn’t my night. I could not recover from that punch in the first round after I broke my nose. My highest priority right now is to heal up and spend some well deserved time with the family. I’ll be back in the gym soon though.
“Thank you all for your support! I see the comments, you guys are the best.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK_7ql9gITt/?igshid=cwnf3os3rhk2
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The 40-year-old former title challenger said in the leadup to UFC Fight Night 184 he was on his last run to capture a UFC title and that he was nearing the end of his 22-year career in MMA. Overeem didn’t indicate retirement in his statement and said he would soon return to the gym.
Overeem, a former DREAM, K-1, and Strikeforce heavyweight champion, is 4-2 in his past six outings. He had back-to-back wins over Walt Harris and Agusto Sakai prior to the loss to Volkov.
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Should Alistair Overeem retire after his loss to Alexander Volkov in the UFC Fight Night 184 main event?
(ALSO SEE: Mick Maynard’s Shoes: What’s next for Alexander Volkov after UFC Fight Night 184 win?)
[autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag]’s aspirations of claiming a UFC title took a tough hit Saturday when he fell short in the UFC Fight Night 184 main event.
Overeem (47-19 MMA, 12-8 UFC) has frequently spoken of his “one final run” to the UFC belt that’s eluded him throughout his career, but it now seems that run could be over with his second-round TKO loss to Alexander Volkov (33-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in their headlining bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Will the loss to Volkov send Overeem into retirement? Or will he opt to compete again?
Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Overeem’s future coming out of UFC Fight Night 184.
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Alexandre Pantoja feels Deiveson Figueiredo tricked him in their first bout and he wants a second chance.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] wants to get his hands on the champion one more time.
The UFC flyweight contender is hoping to land a rematch with Deiveson Figueiredo following Pantoja’s decision win over Manel Kape at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 184. Pantoja (23-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) defeated the former Rizin FF champion and bounced back from his defeat to Askar Askarov in July 2020.
Pantoja kept the champion in mind while fighting Kape, as he desperately seeks to avenge his “Fight of the Night” defeat to Figueiredo, which went down before Figueiredo became champion.
“All the time I’m fighting with Manel, I’m thinking Deiveson Figueiredo,” Pantoja told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 184 post-fight news conference. “If I want to fight Figueiredo, I want to beat that guy and that’s it. I want that guy. I want Deiveson Figueiredo.”
Figueiredo is not currently booked for a title defense, but he’s widely expected to take on Brandon Moreno in an immediate rematch sometime in 2021. The two are coming off a “Fight of the Year” candidate bout back at UFC 256 in December which ended in a majority draw. UFC president Dana White said following the fight that an immediate rematch was the plan.
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Pantoja hopes to lock horns with Figueiredo once again, as he feels the fellow Brazilian tricked him in their last outing back at UFC 240 in 2019.
“First fight with Figueiredo, he came to me and said, ‘Hey, let’s make that bulldog fight, like a street fight. Let’s go. I can strike with you.’ And in the first round he took me down,” Pantoja said. “Come on. What’s this? He played with me, and I’m not going to make that mistake again. I’m ready for Deiveson now.”
Pantoja thinks he’s grown plenty since the two last fought and has improved his overall game, but most importantly his mindset.
“I’m still growing, and every fight I get something – and now I have more to prove,” Pantoja said. “This fight is different. My weight cut is different. My mind is different. My mind is so good now. I can do anything I want. I can fight with anyone. I can fight a good striker like Manel, or I can fight jiu-jitsu with any guy.”
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Cory Sandhagen wants dibs on the winner of Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] has called next.
In the UFC Fight Night 184 co-main event Saturday, Sandhagen (14-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) toppled a former UFC lightweight champion, [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag], with a 28-second body-stiffening flying knee knockout.
At UFC 259 on March 6, UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] will make his first title defense against [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]. Sandhagen wants the winner. With his win over Edgar, Sandhagen thinks he’s done enough to claim dibs against whoever holds the belt on the morning of March 7.
“I think I’m better than Yan,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie on Saturday. “If he wins, I want Yan. Same with Sterling, too, though. I’m a different animal. You guys have seen in the last two fights.”
Sandhagen’s only UFC loss was to Sterling at UFC 250, but Sandhagen believes his statement wins since show he’s a much improved fighter.
“I’m a different animal since that fight with Sterling,” he said. “I’m grateful that he got to teach me a lesson. But the next time we fight, I’m going to hurt Aljamain. I want to fight the winner of that fight in July or whenever they want really. But nah, man. I’ve got to be next for the title. There’s no one else even in the conversation, I don’t think – especially after a performance like that.”
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Sandhagen dismissed the possibility someone could step in front of him and claim the next 135-pound title shot after UFC 259 – especially former UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]T.J. Dillashaw[/autotag], who is now eligible to compete again after he served a two-year suspension for EPO.
“I heard Yan doing an interview talking about how he wants to fight T.J. (Dillashaw) after. T.J. is coming off some of the most serious PEDs you can do in the sport,” Sandhagen said. “That seems disrespectful to the sport. I’ve been working. I’ve been working these last two years. I’m ready for the belt.”
As for the win against Edgar (24-9-1 MMA, 18-9-1 UFC), Team Elevation’s Sandhagen was proud of his performance. That said, Sandhagen doesn’t want to see anyone get seriously hurt in a fight, especially not a legend like Edgar.
“I’m glad it was him and not me,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie at a post-fight news conference. “This isn’t a game. It doesn’t feel good to watch someone crawl up and be all dazed, especially when it’s Frankie Edgar, who everyone loves, including myself.”
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Despite his status near the top of the UFC 135-pound division, there’s still much Sandhagen has to learn. Through constant improvement, Sandhagen realized his ceiling is high.
“I don’t really think I still even know that much about this sport, to be honest with you,” Sandhagen said. “I think the better I get, the more I realize how not great I am in certain spots, which is a good thing because I know that comparatively, I’m much better than a lot of people. I always have a learner’s brain. I don’t think I’m anywhere near 100 percent. There’s so much to be learned in this sport. I don’t think it’ll ever end. That will never end.”
UFC Fight Night 184 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streamed on ESPN+.
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UFC Fight Night 184: Alexandre Pantoja post-fight interview
UFC Fight Night 184: Alexandre Pantoja post-fight interview
UFC Fight Night 184: Clay Guida post-fight interview
UFC Fight Night 184: Clay Guida post-fight interview
UFC Fight Night 184: Cory Sandhagen post-fight interview
UFC Fight Night 184: Cory Sandhagen post-fight interview
The biggest win of Alexander Volkov’s time in the UFC earned him an extra $50,000.
The UFC’s first Las Vegas event of 2021 is in the books, and as is the case no matter where in the world the promotion may be, four fighters walked away with an extra $50,000 after putting in impressive work.
The UFC went with a “Fight of the Night” award and two “Performance of the Night” awards after UFC Fight Night 184. Earning $50,000 apiece for their efforts were [autotag]Beneil Dariush[/autotag] and [autotag]Diego Ferreira[/autotag], who took “Fight of the Night,” as well as [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] and [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag], who each won “Performance of the Night” awards.
UFC Fight Night 184 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The event streamed on ESPN+.
Without further ado, a closer look at each of the evening’s award winners:
Alexander Volkov is now on the short list of heavyweight contenders after the most impressive win of his UFC run.
When you put a pair of fearsome finishers like [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] and [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] into the smaller of the UFC’s two cages, the fight isn’t likely to go the distance.
That was the case Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 184. That turned out to be great news for Volkov (47-18 MMA, 12-7 UFC) and a bad night for Overeem (32-8 MMA, 6-2 UFC).
Volkov, a former Bellator heavyweight champion, had the most impressive victory of his UFC run and quite simply pieced up Overeem before finishing him with a TKO at the 2:06 mark of Round 2.
“I feel great. I feel really excited,” Volkov said. “It is my time.”
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Volkov simply looked the sharper of the two from the outset. His low kicks and body kicks were on point and kept Overeem from building any momentum. When Overeem did manage to throw, they were single shots, and while a few of them landed, that wasn’t going to get the job done.
Volkov forced Overeem to cover up with a wicked flurry late in the opening round. While Overeem escaped the first round, there was an air of finality hovering at the UFC Apex. Volkov wasted little time going to work in the second round, each punch and kick landing hard, and it became obvious it was a matter of when, not if. A final left by Volkov sent Overeem awkwardly tumbling forward on hands and knees to the mat, and referee Jason Herzog waved things off before Overeem took any more damage.
With his 22nd career KO/TKO win, Volkov has now win two in a row and three of his past four. Overeem, in his 15th career KO/TKO loss, had a two-fight winning streak snapped.
The heavyweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 184 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It streamed on ESPN+.
Complete UFC Fight Night 184 results:
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