UFC 333 main event analysis: How Alexander Volkanovski defended his belt

UFC 333 was a night to remember for Alexander Volkanovski. He put a stamp on his second reign as featherweight champion by taking Movsar Evloev's undefeated record in definitive fashion, and it all came down to his counter-wrestling and superior striking.

Round one was competitive between Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev

Before the title fight, the prevailing thought was that Movsar Evloev would not be able to control Alexander Volkanovski on the ground. He might be able to score a few takedowns, but keeping 'The Great' down has been nearly impossible for everyone besides Islam Makhachev, who trapped him on the ground with a body triangle in round four of their UFC 284 encounter. But Evloev is not Makhachev, and Volkanovski's success at UFC 333 was evidence of that. The champion was more aggressive this fight, backing Evloev up to the fence in round one.

It was an atypical approach for Volkanovski, who usually sticks and moves, flicking out his jab and low kick as he circles. But he had no respect for Evloev's striking, and by keeping him on the backfoot, he flustered him. Wrestlers don't often respond well to being backed up, but Evloev did manage to find some success in the fight by firing back and drawing Volkanovski into pocket boxing exchanges, during which he ducked under the champion's punches to secure a bodylock. When Volkanovski turned to start fighting for underhooks, Evloev had already dropped low, wrapping one arm around the champion's hip, then hooking his other arm around Volkanovski's leg to raise it off the ground and drive forward for a well-timed takedown.

The wrestling by Evloev was high-level, as expected. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't hold Volkanovski down at all. 'The Great' immediately slid to the fence and used it to scale back to his feet. They eventually reset, and Volkanovski was back on the front foot, backing Evloev up and cracking him with a right cross. However, when he tried to follow up with a left hook, Evloev timed another takedown, getting in on Volkanovski's hips and using the exact same wrestling sequence from before, though this time he turned in at an angle to get the champion down. Volkanovski, though, posted on his arm and worked his way back to his feet again. Undeterred, the challenger secured a rear-bodylock, then dropped low, posting a leg behind one of Volkanovski's to trip him.

As the champion fell backward, Evloev kept his grip around his waist and turned into him, but he just couldn't control him. Volkanovski posted on his arm again, and rolled out of the challenger's grip to stand again. By now, Evloev was tiring and Volkanovski walked him down with combinations. It was a competitive round that could have gone to either man, but by round two, the dynamic of the fight would change dramatically.

Round two was all Alexander Volkanovski

In round two, Movsar Evloev kept going for the exact same takedown whenever Alexander Volkanovski grew too aggressive, but this time the champion secured an underhook with one arm, while using his other hand to shove Evloev's head down past his hip to defend the takedown. Volkanovski had made his reads in round one and had adjusted. Desperate, Evloev tried the rear-bodylock trip again, dropping down. Now, though, Volkanovski immediately wrapped his arm around the back of Evloev's knee, pulling his leg up as they both fell to the ground. In doing so, Volkanovski trapped one of Evloev's arms between the leg he had caught and his own chest.

This allowed the champion to turn into him and end up on top. Eventually, Evloev got up, but the writing was on the wall. He was out of options and Volkanovski had figured his wrestling out. So, when they were forced to strike, which was not as easy as Evloev had previously thought, it was all Volkanovski. Evloev slipped a Volkanovski jab on the inside and fired back with an uppercut, which the champion slipped, then countered with a big right hook that dropped the challenger. Evloev tried to recover by getting back up, but Volkanovski pounced on him against the fence, melting him and forcing him to clinch.

From there, the champion broke away from his grip, and just blasted him with shots from the top until the referee waved the fight off. Volkanovski won via TKO, but neglected to call anyone out in his post-fight interview. There's a possible lightweight title fight with Justin Gaethje that Dana White now seems open to, and a potential title defense against Kevin Vallejos if the latter can get past Aljamain Sterling at UFC Fight Night 294. The options are plentiful for Volkanovski, who clearly had every right to be as confident as he was heading into UFC 333.