On the night of September 10, the UFC 293 tournament took place in Australia, where Russian heavyweight Alexander Volkov fought. The Russian was seventh in the division and defeated two times in a row — Jairzinho Rozenstruik from Suriname and Alexander Romanov from Moldova.
A victory over Tai Tuivasa could return Volkov to the title race: he has always been the top of the division, but he will never get to the fight for the belt. Now another Russian is vying for the title — Sergei Pavlovich, who is preparing to fight the winner of the Jones-Miocic pair.
Volkov defeated Australian knockout artist at UFC 293
The co-main event of the tournament lasted two rounds, and Volkov won by submission. He beat Tuivasa from range, taking advantage of his anthropometric advantage. Tuivasa is a knockout artist, but could not get close to his opponent: he was knocked down several times and succumbed to a choke.
It was a rare technique — the Ezekiel choke, for which Russian Alexey Oleinik became famous in the UFC. Volkov won 37 victories with 10 defeats: now he is likely to face a top‑5 opponent and a chance to get closer to the title.
![Volkov won by choke for the first time in the UFC Volkov won by choke for the first time in the UFC](http://southampton.top/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/75d1650c07db5ad9c5a59a9830c7dfba_cropped_666x387.jpg)
Tuivasa lost to the Russian for the second time in a row — before that he was knocked out by Sergei Pavlovich. Tuivasa became famous in the UFC for taking fans’ shoes and drinking beer from them after victories. He says drinking from a shoe is an Australian tradition called shui.
According to tradition, people not only drink alcohol from shoes, they also spit and pee in them. Tuivasa wanted to drink urine right during an interview with top MMA journalist Ty Tuivasa:
“Tuivasa just asked for my shoe to perform a ritual. I said I didn’t have any alcohol and Ty said I could pee in it. I asked if he’d done this before and he said, “Oh, yeah.” I didn’t give him my shoe,” the journalist wrote on social networks.
Sensation in the main fight — Adesanya lost
There was a sensation in the main event of UFC 293: the promotion’s middleweight champion Israel Adesanya lost to Sean Strickland. The candidate has a scandalous reputation: he hates feminism, body positivity, and calls Greta Thunberg a moron.
Now the UFC has the most explosive conservative champion possible. He says radical things and jokingly asks himself to “cancel.” This brings Strickland popularity — his views attract many.
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Before the fight with Adesanya, he said that a guy who “jerks off to cartoons and paints his nails” will not beat him. Israel is known for his love of anime and loves to decorate himself — getting manicures and wearing necklaces. Strickland’s victory shocked experts, because before the fight he was a huge underdog.
This is not the first sensation in the UFC title: at the last numbered tournament, Sean O’Malley, who was also an underdog against Aljamain Sterling, became the champion.