5 most explosive moments from UFC 273: Alexander Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie
UFC 273 is finally in the books, and just as the fans were hoping, we were treated to an excellent show with a number of memorable moments.
Sure, the pay-per-view featured just three finishes across its 12 bouts. However, there were still a number of truly explosive moments on offer that will probably end up on the highlight reels for a long time to come.
With that in mind, here are the five most explosive moments from UFC 273: Alexander Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie.
#5. Aljamain Sterling’s big second round allows him to retain UFC gold
The grudge match between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan for the UFC bantamweight title was more of a chess match than a wildly explosive encounter. It’s likely that fans will be debating for a while which of the two deserved the nod.
Dana White stated that he felt Yan did enough to win, while the judges – and a number of online experts – went with Sterling, feeling that he won the first, second and third rounds of the bout.
If you base your winner on the man who had the most dominant round then it’s hard to suggest that Sterling didn’t deserve the victory. His second round was utterly fantastic, and he came close to finishing the fight on more than one occasion.
The round saw ‘Funk Master’ unleash the same explosive grappling skills that he’d used to submit the likes of Cory Sandhagen in the past. He latched onto Yan’s back and controlled him for the majority of the stanza while hunting for a choke.
Sterling didn’t just look to submit ‘No Mercy’, though. He also punished him with some thudding punches to the head. To be honest, the Russian fighter did very well to survive the onslaught, particularly as he had to defend on two fronts.
Whether or not these two men end up contesting a trilogy bout in the future is a valid question to ask right now, and the quick answer would probably be yes. Regardless, it’s clear that while they were closely matched last night, the most explosive round came from Sterling, and so ‘Funk Master’ should be seen as a valid champion at this stage.