UFC Vegas 18 was the first UFC 2021 Ultimate Fighting Championship to take place in the United States.
After three shows in a row in the UAE, the largest MMA promotion has returned to its homeland, but not without problems.
A number of scheduled contractions have been canceled for various reasons, the main one being the coronavirus.
But if the Russian Timur Valiev was able to find a replacement and still allowed to speak in Las Vegas, then Cody Stamen was less fortunate.
Askar Askar replaced Andre Ewell, but a few hours before the fight, he had health problems.
As for Valiev, UFC Vegas 18 was of great importance to him.
After an unsuccessful debut in the organization, he needed to confidently gain the upper hand in order to confirm his claims to high places.
The opponent was perfect for this task.
Over the past two and a half years, Martin Day has entered the octagon three times, but has never won, losing twice ahead of schedule.
However, he shouldn't have been underestimated.
The Hawaiian was said to have a solid height advantage (178 versus 168 centimeters), as well as a black belt in taekwondo.
True, already from the first minutes it was noticeable that this would hardly help Day.
Valiev not only worked confidently in a stance and interrupted his counterparts, but also demonstrated that he was able to control the enemy well on the ground.
Already in the middle of the round, he transferred the American to the flooring, where he purposefully beat him for the next almost three minutes.
Not to say that Martin was close to another early defeat, but he practically did not answer.
The remaining two rounds passed in a similar vein, during which Valiev's superiority only increased.
In total, he spent 11 minutes 19 seconds in a dominant position and surpassed his opponent in the number of significant strikes almost seven times.
On the account of the Russian, there were 55 similar ones, while the American managed to answer with only eight.
A more or less successful episode in Day's performance can only be called the transition to full guard at the end of the second five-minute period, however, he could not extract dividends from it.
As a result, two judges at once gave Valiev a victory with a crushing score of 30:25, and another one - 30:26.
Timur was not prevented from achieving success either by an emergency change of an opponent, or by the fact that the fight was held in a featherweight that was not the most convenient for him.
The Russian himself admitted that this time he was more cold-blooded in the Octagon and expressed a desire to fight Julio Arce in the future, due to the coronavirus, forced to miss the show in Las Vegas.
In addition to Valiev's triumph, the preliminary program was remembered for a bright knockout performed by Ode Osborne.
Already at the 27th second, the Jamaican caught a high-kick and with a powerful direct blow put Jerome Rivera on the canvas, who had lost the second fight in 19 days.
The duel with Devonte Smith's participation ended dramatically.
Justin Jaines came out on short notice instead of Alex da Silva, but was forced to retire in the second round due to injury.
In the course of the confrontation, the fighter developed a hematoma, which almost completely closed his left eye.
After consulting a doctor, referee Keith Peterson decided to stop the battle.
The main card opened with a confident performance by Brazilian light heavyweight Danilo Marquez.
The offender of Hadis Ibragimov left no chance for Mike Rodriguez - at first he pretty much tormented him on the ground, and then carried out a choke hold from behind.
The duel between Beneil Dariush and Diego Ferreira turned out to be much more colorful and competitive.
At times, both forgot about caution and arranged a fierce exchange of punches at close range, in which the Brazilian looked a little more successful.
However, four takedowns became a serious help for the American and, if they did not tilt the scales on his side, then at least allowed him to level the situation.
In the course of the third segment, the impression was that Ferreira would be able to interrupt the tired Dariush and achieve victory, but he did not manage to use his chance.
He delivered fewer accurate and accented punches, and in the end he even allowed himself to be transferred to the ground for the fifth time.
In the end, Beneil took the upper hand by split decision and dealt with Diego for the second time in a row.
They first met in October 2014 and also spent the entire 15 minutes in the cage.
True, then the judges were unanimous.
Subsequently, fifth flyweight Alexandre Pantoja and promotion veteran Clay Guida alternately achieved success, but one of the highlights of the tournament was the triumph of Corey Sandhagen.
A phenomenal jump knee kick at 28 seconds not only helped him deal with one of the most famous representatives of the light categories, Frankie Edgar, but also made a claim for victory in the "Knockout of the Year" nomination.
It is noteworthy that Sandhagen reacted very restrainedly to the result of the fight.
On the eve of the tournament, he admitted that he had previously been a fan of Edgar, so the success in the battle with the former idol did not bring him much joy.
In the octagon, he looked upset and only smiled for the first time during the interview.
Having won the second bright victory in a row, Corey said that he considers himself the first contender for the bantamweight title and threw it to its owner - Peter Jan.
In the main fight of the evening, there was also no fight.
Although the duel between Alexander Volkov and Alistair Overeem lasted much longer, doubts about the winner did not arise from the beginning of the second round.
The Russian turned out to be utterly stronger than the Dutchman and knocked him out in the eighth minute.
Immediately, it was striking how much more massive Volkov looked.
He admitted that after being defeated by Curtis Blades, he decided to gain muscle mass, and the fruits of the work became noticeable even during the fight with Walt Harris in October.
However, in recent months, he managed to achieve even greater progress, while practically not losing in speed qualities.
Volkov attacked from a distance in the traditional manner, but this time he invested much more in strikes, and did not work on gaining points.
He constantly pushed the opponent, alternated the trademark combination of a jab and a straight one with high-kicks, also often connecting a front-kick to the body, which became decisive in a duel with Harris.
Overeem changed stances, feinted, and in the opening he even made a good hit with a left overhand, but over time he was forced to retreat more and more often and go into blind defense.
Already in the middle of the first five minutes, the Dutchman was on the floor.
Perhaps, the main reason was the loss of balance, but already on the ground, the Russian several times significantly struck the Dutchman's defense.
Overeem clearly felt these hits, and until the gong missed a few more times, after which blood appeared on his face.
The ex-Strikeforce champion himself gradually lost out on single, uncomplicated strikes and looked frankly lost.
Until a certain moment, it seemed that all this was part of Overeem's plan, trying to lull Volkov's vigilance.
But at the beginning of the second round, it became clear that this was not the case.
The Dutchman slowed down and began to miss more and more.
It became clear that the end of the battle was approaching when he missed a powerful line and nearly lost his balance.
Alexander did not stop and played a combination of a right uppercut and a left sidecut, throwing him to the net.
However, the Russian did not force the course of the duel, stepped back a little, and after 30 seconds he sent him to the canvas.
Alistair fell to his knees and could well have received a few more serious blows, but the referee prevented the finishing move.
Volkov won a second early victory in a row and confirmed that he deserves to be among the strongest heavyweights on the planet.
There is no doubt that this success will allow him to at least bypass Overeem and climb to the fifth line of the rating.