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UFC Vegas 18 is officially in the books, and it turned out to be a thrilling event. The event saw everything ranging from back and forth slugfests to thunderous knockouts.
The card, which took place at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas on February 6, was headlined by a heavyweight encounter between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. The night's co-main event featured a firecracker of a bantamweight contest between fight game veteran Frankie Edgar and surging contender Cory Sandhagen.
Alexander Volkov demolished Alistair Overeem to pick up a huge second-round stoppage win in the main event of UFC Vegas 18. Volkov outstruck and dominated the 40-year-old UFC veteran from the beginning of the fight. The 32-year-old landed a total of 54 significant strikes on Overeem, vastly outstriking The Reem, who only landed 20 strikes.
The finish came in the second round of the fight when Volkov's relentless flurry of strikes began to take a toll on the former heavyweight title contender. A hard jab-cross combination was all it took for Volkov to knockdown Overeem, as referee Jason Herzog stepped in to make a sensible stoppage.
Alistair Overeem's hopes of another shot at the UFC heavyweight title end in disappointment
With this win, Alexander Volkov established himself as a legitimate title contender in the UFC heavyweight division. Francis Ngannou, the current title contender, acknowledged the same following Volkov's brilliant performance at UFC Vegas 18.
However, Ngannou also warned him to be careful because it's 'slippery' at the top.
As far as Alistair Overeem is concerned, his hopes of mounting one last title run in the UFC heavyweight division have unfortunately ended. Overeem knew that he had to beat Volkov somehow to remain relevant in the title picture, but it just wasn't meant to be. The 40-year-old must now take a call on his future inside the Octagon.
Check out the full results of UFC Vegas 18 below:
Alexander Volkov defeated Alistair Overeem via TKO in the first round.
Cory Sandhagen defeated Frankie Edgar via KO in the first round.
Clay Guida defeated Michael Johnson via unanimous decision.
Alexandre Pantoja defeated Manel Kape via unanimous decision.
Beneil Dariush defeated Carlos Diego Ferreira via split decision.
Danilo Marques defeated Mike Rodríguez via submission in the second round
Devonte Smith defeated Justin Jaynes via TKO in the second round.
Karol Rosa defeated Joselyne Edwards via unanimous decision.
Lara Procópio defeated Molly McCann via unanimous decision.
Seung Woo Choi defeated Youssef Zalal via unanimous decision.
Timur Valiev defeated Martin Day via unanimous decision.
Ode Osbourne defeated Jerome Rivera via knockout in the first round.
