UFC 273 full results and analysis

10.04.2022, 09:29 espn.com

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The story coming into the fight was mainly about Khamzat Chimaev. How good was one of the top prospects to ever grace the Octagon? Could he hang with the top welterweights in the world, one of which is Gilbert Burns? The answer to the latter question was a resounding yes. The undefeated Chimaev outlasted Burns via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) on the UFC 273 main card Saturday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. It went back and forth, and both men scored punches that dropped the other. It was one of the best UFC fights in recent memory, a spectacular three-round battle. "I didn't know he was so tough," Chimaev said in his postfight interview. ESPN had Burns ranked No. 3 in the world at welterweight coming in. Chimaev was unranked, but he won't be for long. This was the first time in his career that Chimaev did not finish. Chimaev dropped Burns with a perfect left jab near the end of the first round and nearly finished with huge ground and pound. A big elbow from the top caused a cut on Burns' forehead. Burns fired back and dropped Chimaev twice in the second, though the first one seemed more of a slip. Burns had Chimaev hurt toward the end of the round, though. Chimaev fired back in the third. Burns was tired from the grueling battle, and Chimaev got him against the cage and was landing hard shots while Burns covered up. To his credit, Burns was able to get another wind and land some shots later in the round. But the hard flurries put Chimaev over the top, earning him the biggest win of his career. Chimaev (10-0) is now 5-0 in the UFC and the previous four wins all came via finish. The Chechnya native, who trains out of All Stars in Sweden, holds the record for the fastest two wins in the UFC modern era (10 days) and is coming off a win over Li Jingliang at UFC 267 last October. Chimaev, 27, was a -550 favorite despite Burns being highly ranked and a former title challenger. Burns (20-5) was coming off a unanimous decision win over Stephen Thompson at UFC 264 last July. The Brazil native, who trains out of Florida, fell to champion Kamaru Usman in a title fight at UFC 258 in February 2021. Burns, 35, is a former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion. Watch Chimaev vs. Burns on ESPN+ | The Rock and UFC superstars react to Chimaev vs. Burns Since becoming UFC featherweight champion, Alex Volkanovski vowed to finish Saturday night, something he has yet to do to an opponent. One of the world's top fighters lived up to his promise. Volkanovski stopped Chan Sung Jung, "The Korean Zombie," via TKO (punches) at :45 of the fourth round in the main event of UFC 273. With the victory, Volkanovski picked up his third featherweight title defense. If the PPV is purchased, all fights from UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. Jung will be available to watch on ESPN+. • Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Chan Sung Jung• Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Petr Yan (ic)• Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev• Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres• Mark O. Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel• Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks• Anthony Hernandez vs. Josh Fremd• Aspen Ladd vs. Raquel Pennington• Mickey Gall vs. Mike Malott• Aleksei Oleinik vs. Jared Vanderaa• Piera Rodriguez vs. Kay Hansen• Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos Watch the complete card on ESPN+ PPV It was one-way traffic the whole way, with Volkanovski doing damage to Jung every round. Volkanovski dropped Jung at the end of the third round and nearly finished him with ground and pound. At the start of the fourth, it was pretty clear referee Herb Dean was keeping an eye on Jung, whose face was badly marked up and whose nose looked broken. When Volkanovski landed a big combo early in the fourth, Dean stepped in to stop it even though Jung was still standing. "He actually took a lot more than I wanted him to," Volkanovski said in his postfight interview. "I thought they could have stopped it earlier. That's the sport we're in." ESPN has Volkanovski ranked No. 4 on its MMA pound-for-pound list. At featherweight, Volkanovski is ranked No. 1 and Jung is No. 9. Max Holloway, whom Volkanovski has defeated twice in title fights, was the originally scheduled opponent for Volkanovski before withdrawing due to injury. "Everybody in my division, I've been saying it for a while now," Volkanovski said. "Get your s--- together and earn that No. 1 spot. If you don't, you're gonna miss out." Volkanovski dropped Jung with a right hand at the end of the first round and then took him off his feet again with a leg kick shortly after. It was more big combos for Volkanovski in the second round. Jung, who had the crowd's support, started the third round hot. But before long, Volkanovski took over again. It felt like he was landing every combination he threw, including the one at the end of the round that nearly stopped Jung. Early in the fourth, it was over. Aljamain Sterling is the UFC's undisputed bantamweight champion. Undisputed. Kind of. Sterling (21-3) got the last laugh on Petr Yan (16-3) and all of his critics on Saturday, as he pulled out a razor-close split decision over Yan. The 135-pound title fight, which was supposed to end any controversy left from the initial meeting between the two in March 2021, co-headlined UFC 273. That controversy might not be completely cleared up, however, as some scored the fight in Yan's favor. Two judges had it 48-47 for Sterling, while a third had it 48-47 for Yan. Sterling, who won the belt in 2021 when Yan was disqualified for an illegal knee, seemed to enjoy the win, even though the Jacksonville crowd booed the decision. Sterling must have seen a realtor before this fight, location, location, location. #UFC273— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) "I had a tough ass opponent in Petr Yan," Sterling said. "He's dangerous and he brings out the best in me. He beat my ass the first fight. This is for the haters who keep writing me off." Yan, who is from Russia, looked incredulous as the scorecards were read. "I think I won this fight and I got robbed," he said through a translator. The third round was just 40 seconds old when Dern jumped guard, locked in a kimura while the fighters still were standing, then brought Torres down on top of her on the canvas. This was Dern's world. She is a multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion, one of the best grapplers in all of MMA, with submissions in seven of her 11 victories. Was she about to deliver No. 8? Dern continued to work on the kimura, and after Torres defended that well, Dern switched to a leg lock. Torres made it to the horn but looked drained as she went to her corner. And when Round 3 began with Dern getting a quick takedown, it didn't look good for Torres -- until she unleashed an upkick that floored Dern against the cage. And Torres took over from there. Close fight but thought Tecia had 1 & 3 #UFC273— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) But it was not enough for two judges, who turned in 29-28 scorecards in Dern's favor, giving the 29-year-old from Huntington Beach, California, her fifth win in her past six fights. Dern is No. 6 in the ESPN strawweight rankings. For the eighth-ranked Torres, a 32-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colorado, the tight defeat halted her three-fight winning streak. The Greatest night of my life :) https://t.co/95s6KJXuTk— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) Denmark's Madsen remained undefeated with a decision over Pichel, following three grueling rounds. All three judges scored it in Madsen's favor: 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. It was a tough fight, as Madsen and Pichel's best skill seemed to be negating each other's offense. Every strike and inch on the ground took effort, and both were tired by the end. In the end, Madsen's wrestling was the difference. He was credited with success on all three of his takedowns and racked up 5:10 of control time to just 48 seconds for Pichel. There were several stalemates on the ground, and neither lightweight ever appeared to hurt his opponent on the feet. For Madsen, who said he plans on moving to the U.S. to train for his next fight, it's his third consecutive win by decision. Madsen, 37, is 4-0 in the UFC overall. Pichel, of California, sees a three-fight win streak snapped. Two champs enter, only one will leave 🏆😤[ @FunkMasterMMA @PetrYanUFC | #UFC273 ] pic.twitter.com/t3kHWneuF9— UFC (@ufc) Garry is one of the best prospects in the UFC, and Saturday night's performance did nothing to dispel that notion. "The Future" outpointed Weeks via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) to stay undefeated in a workmanlike effort. In the third round, Garry started getting into his rhythm when he dropped Weeks with a right hand and landed a big left head kick. "He was good," Garry said in his postfight interview. "He was tough, he was big, he was strong. I wanted to stop him. ... At the end of the day, it was 15 minutes in the cage. I'm happy with it." Afterward, Garry announced his wife was pregnant with their first child. He gave a message to UFC president Dana White and matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard: "Line them up, I'll knock them down," and said, "Everybody is gonna call me daddy." Garry had a solid first round, mixing in combinations with a jab and leg kick that briefly took Weeks off his feet. Weeks rallied a bit in the second, using a clinch and landing shots that bloodied Garry's nose. But Garry found his groove in the third, using his length and striking to keep Weeks at bay with jabs, kicks and a stiff right hand. Garry, 24, is now 2-0 in the UFC. The Ireland native is the former Cage Warriors welterweight champion and has taken inspiration from countryman Conor McGregor. Weeks, a 28-year-old fighting out of Missouri, has dropped both of his UFC fights. Hernandez, of California, earned a hard-fought decision over a late replacement opponent in Fremd to improve to 3-2 inside the Octagon. All three judges scoring the fight had it for Hernandez, by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. Hernandez was initially supposed to fight Dricus du Plessis on Saturday. However, du Plessis was m