UFC Las Vegas: Alexandr Romanov from Moldova suffers 0-12 sig. strikes in first round ground and pound defeat

UFC heavyweight Alexandr Romanov had a rough day at work on March 11. 'King Kong' took on Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 221 but came up short that night.

Romanov suffered a brutal TKO loss in the opening round of the fight. The fight marked the first knockout defeat of the Moldovan fighter's MMA career.

In the short-lived affair, Romanov absorbed 12 significant strikes but failed to fire off any of his own against Volkov.

One interesting thing to note is that 'King King' did something similar two fights ago. The 32-year-old took on Chase Sherman in April 2022 and submitted him in the opening round. In that encounter, the Moldovan fighter landed eight significant strikes on Sherman but did not absorb any in response.

With the first-round knockout, Alexander Volkov earned the 36th win of his MMA career. 'Drago' has now had 14 fights in the UFC and has been on the winning side in 10 of them. During his UFC tenure, the Russian has competed against the likes of Derrick Lewis, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Fabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson, Stefan Struve, Curtis Blaydes, Alistair Overeem, Marcin Tybura and Tom Aspinall.

With a two-fight win streak, Volkov has started to re-gain momentum and could get back into title contention with a few more impressive wins.

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Alexandr Romanov is now on a two-fight skid in the UFC

Alexandr Romanov's recent octagon experience has been unpleasant as the 32-year-old has lost two fights back-to-back in the promotion. Prior to his loss at UFC Fight Night 221, Romanov went up against Marcin Tybura and came up short via majority decision.

Since the loss, many have raised questions about the heavyweight's abilities as a fighter. MMA journalist Alex Behunin asked whether Romanov's losses were the result of tough competition or did the MMA world overestimate the Moldovan fighter's capabilities:

"Is Alexandr Romanov not as good as we thought or is he just fighting tough opponents?"

Aaron Bronsteter also commented on how Romanov's image had changed in the MMA world due to his recent losses.

"The perception around Alexandr Romanov has sure changed over the last year."

Before the two defeats, 'King Kong' was undefeated in his professional career with an overall record of 16-0. This included five victories in the UFC. Now, after facing diversity for the time in his fighting career, it remains to be seen whether Romanov will turn things around in the future or not.