The second-most important heavyweight bout on UFC 321 had people talking, but not because of its high level of excitement.
On Saturday’s main card, Alexander Volkov defeated Jailton Almeida by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) to potentially solidify himself as the next title challenger.
Alemeida (22-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) repeatedly took down Volkov (39-11 MMA, 13-6 UFC) throughout the bout, but was largely unable to muster up any damage. In Round 1, Volkov reversed Almeida and landed ground-and-pound to likely to steal the round.
In Rounds 2 and Round 3, Almeida largely laid on top of Volkov without much offense. Volkov struggled to get up and even when referee Marc Goddard stood the fighters up, Almeida would drag the fight back down. Volkov landed short pitter-patter punches from the bottom. They didn’t look like much, but they likely were the big difference.
Despite Almeida’s control and repeated takedowns, two judges sided with Volkov and he was declared the winner. The decision sparked debate among many viewers.
With the win, Volkov wins in his first competition since a highly controversial December 2024 unanimous decision loss to Ciryl Gane. The win earned Gane a title fight atop Saturday’s UFC 321.
Almeida has a two-fight winning streak snapped.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 321 results:
- Alexander Volkov def. Jailton Almeida via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Azamat Murzakanov def. Aleksandar Rakic via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:11
- Quillan Salkilld def. Nasrat Haqparast via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 2:30
- Ikram Aliskerov def. JunYong Park via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ludovit Klein def. Mateusz Rebecki via majority decision (29-27, 28-27, 28-28)
- Valter Walker def. Louie Sutherland via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 1:24
- Nathaniel Wood def. Jose Delgado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Hamdy Abdelwahab def. Chris Barnett via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-27, 29-27)
- Mitch Raposo def. Azat Maksum via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27)
- Mizuki Inoue def. Jaqueline Amorim via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
