Ortega clamped onto a mounted guillotine with just over two minutes remaining in the third round, locking it in tight. If you put 100 people into the same position at the same point of the fight, maybe 10 are getting free. Just over a minute later, Ortega locked up a triangle choke, hooking the leg and rolling into a more dangerous position, but once more Volkanovski worked free.
And he still won the round on all three scorecards; that’s how much punishment he unloaded on Ortega, who remained on the floor, spent, for 15 seconds after the horn sounded to signal the end of the round.
For the fight, Volkanovski out-landed Ortega 214-88 in terms of significant strikes, landing at a 60-percent clip over the course of the 25-minute affair. He threw 99 significant strikes in the all-action third round alone, and stung the gutsy challenger with swift counters, stiff jabs, and clean rights and lefts all night long.
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And though Volkanovski hasn’t yet received the acclaim some of his peers at the top of the sport have, he relishes his position, telling me prior to his victory at UFC 265 that he welcomes the doubters and the chance to prove people wrong. Add in a refreshing attitude, and by this time next year, “Alexander the Great” may be seen as the best to ever do it at 145 pounds.
