Alexander Volkov is back in the win column.
The UFC heavyweight contender picked up a quick TKO win in his return to the octagon at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 207 in Las Vegas. Volkov (35-10 MMA, 9-4 UFC) defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik after referee Herb Dean waived off the fight at the 2:12 mark of Round 1. Rozenstruik (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) was still on his feet at the time of the stoppage but he was visibly hurt.
The stoppage was initiated after Volkov countered a wild, combination by Rozenstruik. The Russian fighter stayed composed through the flurry of big punches, reset his position and landed a sharp, straight right hand to the jaw of Rozenstruik. From there, “Bigi Boy” was wobbled and Volkov continued his attack, even sending Rozenstruik’s mouthpiece flying out before the fight was stopped.
With this result, Volkov was able to bounce back from his loss to Tom Aspinall earlier this year in London. The Russian fighter has been alternating wins and losses since 2021 – defeating Alistair Overeem, Marcin Tybura and now Rozenstruik; and losing to Ciryl Gane and Aspinall.
Meanwhile, Rozenstruik now has back-to-back defeats for the first time in his professional MMA career. Rozenstruik was coming off a decision loss to Curtis Blaydes last September at UFC 266. Rozenstruik’s last win came in June 2021 when he stopped Brazil’s Augusto Sakai by first-round TKO.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC Fight Night 207 include:
Alexander Volkov def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:12
Movsar Evloev def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Lucas Almeida def. Michael Trizano via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:55
Karine Silva def. Poliana Botelho via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 4:55
Ode Osbourne def. Zarrukh Adashev via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:01
Alonzo Menifield def. Askar Mozharov via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 4:40
Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Felice Herrig via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:01
Joe Solecki def. Alex Da Silva via majority decision (28-28, 28-27, 29-27)
Damon Jackson def. Dan Argueta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Benoit Saint-Denis def. Niklas Stolze via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:32
Tony Gravely def. Johnny Munoz Jr. via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:08
Jeff Molina def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Andreas Michailidis via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Erin Blanchfield def. JJ Aldrich via submission (standing guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:38