Former UFC -Fedweight champion Alexander Volkanovski's title Reign let him ask a referee for grace for his opponent.
Alexander Volkanovski defeated the Korean zombie with such an important margin at UFC 273 that he wondered why referee Herb Dean allowed the fight to enter the fourth round.
At the height of his UFC -Fedweight Reign, Volkanovski was confronted with a UFC legend in one of his title defenses at UFC 273. After an impressive victory, a date with Volkanovski in his second UFC 163.
What resulted was one of the virtuoso performance of Volkanovski, albeit at the expense of Zombie.
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Alexander Volkanovski felt merciful to the Korean zombie in UFC 273 title fight
Volkanovski set up a clinic against Zombie, leaving the face of the UFC legend a bloody mess behind after three rounds of mostly one-sided action. While a defeated zombie was on his way of his chair for the fourth round, some wondered if his corner should have turned off the fight or not, including Volkanovski.
When De Ronde 4 started, Volkanovski was heard on the broadcast in which Zombie was asked “Do you know for sure?” About whether or not he wanted to continue to compete. 45 seconds later, Dean stepped in to stop the fight and to grant Volkanovski the TKO victory.
The victory of Volkanovski pushed his star force to new heights and earned him long -awaited respect from fans and experts after a controversial start of his title government. But Volkanovski was not happy with how his title defense ended after the feeling that Zombie had suffered undeserved damage.
In a performance of April 2022 at the MMA hour, Volkanovski explained the viral moment with his UFC 273 rival when the fourth round began.
“In the third round I wanted to get that finish and I was very close. He did well, was tough, when I was about to get the finish and just kept it to the buzzer,” said Volkanovski.
“But I saw him in the corner, saw him on the floor, he was ready. He was defeated, and even when he got up he played with his eye, wobbled to the middle … so I just said to him 'size, are you sure you want to keep doing this? Are you sure? '
“Herb knew where I was, I even said it a few times to stop. Gave him a last little chance, but as soon as he ate a few, he would go. I knew it was ready, and sometimes with people who were so heavy, it was worse for their own good. I didn't just want to keep hitting damage.”
Zombie went against the triple rival of Volkanovski, Max Holloway, fighting in August 2023 before he announced his retirement of MMA. He ended his career with a record of 17-8 with victories over Frankie Edgar, Renato Moicano and Dustin Poirier.
Alexander Volkanovski with the aim of overcoming a worrying trend on UFC 314
Volkanovski is in the main event of UFC 314 in Miami this Saturday for the now featherweight title in the UFC 314 head event. Ilia Topuria announced his full -time switch to lightweight earlier this year, which encouraged his title holiday.
But Volkanovski is confronted with a tough battle at UFC 314 while he seems to bounce back from back-to-back knockout losing and a long break. Former UFC title holders are 2-6 this year so far, with Jiri Procazka and Brandon Moreno the only victors.
Fighters older than 35 years (Volkanovski is coming to UFC 314 at the age of 36) have also made an effort in recent UFC title fights. But Volkanovski seems to be the exception to the rule on UFC 314.
The return of Volkanovski comes more than a year after a knock-out loss for Topuria on UFC 298. Before the Topuria defeat, Volkanovski lost in a short-nothing rematch with Islam Makhakev on UFC 294, a quick turnaround in between beating.
Volkanovski is no stranger to overcome the opportunities, as evidenced by earlier victories over Holloway, Chad Mendes and Brian Ortega. He will want to replicate his UFC 273 output on UFC 314.