Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega produced one of the greatest featherweight fights ever at UFC 266. This was Volkanovski’s second title defense and first fight since beating Max Holloway via a split decision at UFC 251 in July 2020.

Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega came into the contest with a unanimous win over ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie in October last year.

The UFC 266 fight left the fans and Dana White buzzing. While at the press conference after the Dana White’s Contender Series, White said, “Oh my god, yeah, it was incredible. What was crazy, too, is Ortega is so tough. At the end of the 4th round, I thought that his corner should’ve stopped the fight and not let him come out for the 5th. He won the 5th round. Holy S**t! It was an incredible fight.”

Alexander Volkanovski vs Brian Ortega – What Happened?

Ever since the fight between Volkanovski and Ortega was announced, they left no opportunity to have a go at each other. Initially booked to fight at UFC 260, the fight fell through due to the champion testing positive for COVID-19. Subsequently, the animosity between the two grew during ‘The Ultimate Fighter 29’, where they were the coaches.

Six months after their first booking fell through, Volkanovski and Ortega went at it during their main event at UFC 266.

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During the third round, Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega put the champion in a guillotine choke. The choke looked to be very tight, and the fight looked over, but Volkanovski somehow got out of it. Once out, Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski landed heavy ground and pound on the challenger and destroyed him.

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While talking about the submission attempt by Ortega, Dana White said, “How does Volkanovski get out of that guillotine? Ortega has you in a guillotine, and you get out of it. The whole fight was just bada**.”

Has Volkanovski earned respect?

Ever since Volkanovski dethroned Max Holloway, many believe he hasn’t been getting the respect he deserves. But was this the fight that finally made the critics see that he’s one of the best fighters in the world right now? Dana White believes so.

In the press conference, he said, “One of you guys leading up to the fight, somebody was like, what’s this guy gotta do to earn the respect? That’s what he’s gotta do. He did it; he did it on Saturday night.”

Not only was the fight incredible, but it also left the people buzzing. According to White, “I heard that at a game on Sunday, he was there, and they showed him on screen, and I guess place went crazy. He got a big pop. I went to NASCAR on Sunday and everybody was screaming at me, going crazy about the fight. It was one of those fights that had people buzzing for a couple of days.”

What are your views about the fight? Has Alexander Volkanovski earned the respect he deserves? Should Ortega’s corner have ended proceedings? Let us know in the comments!

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