UFC Vegas 56: Things We Learned
UFC Vegas 56 was another successful night of fights from the UFC Apex. In the fourteen bouts, we saw nine finishes. Five of these finishes came via KO/TKO while the other four were submissions. Most importantly, we saw the outcome of important fights while getting to see some prospects and UFC debutants in action. Here is what we learned during UFC Vegas 56.
Alexander Volkov is still an elite heavyweight
Coming into UFC Vegas 56 there were questions about where Alexander Volkov stood in the UFC heavyweight division. He did not look at his best against Tom Aspinall at UFC London but he turned the ship around with his first-round knockout win against Jairzinho Rozenstruik. During the fight, Volkov did a great job of managing range and using his kicks. He was eventually able to find a finish after landing a powerful straight right. Any questions regarding Volkov’s position in the heavyweight division have been answered. At a minimum, Volkov established that he is still a top 10 heavyweight. Moving forward, he will attempt to climb to the top of the heavyweight rankings once again.
Movsar Evloev is going to be a problem at featherweight
Movsar Evloev was the biggest winner at UFC Vegas 56. The prospect improved his record to 16-0 after earning a win over UFC veteran Dan Ige. Not only did Evloev win but he did so in impressive fashion. Coming into this fight everyone knew that Evloev was one of the best grapplers in the division. Against Ige, he proved that he can hang with skilled fighters on the feet. In the first two rounds, Evloev landed a lot of really good strikes. This was headlined by a counter knee in round one that hurt Ige. The only reason Evloev did not control round three on the feet was because he opted to do it on the ground. It is safe to say that Evloev has championship potential and will be a problem for anyone at featherweight.
Askar Mozharov looked more like 19-12 than 25-7
During UFC Vegas 56 fight week, Askar Mozharov was hit with some record adjustments that dropped his record from 25-7 to 19-12. After his loss to Alonzo Menifield, he sits at 19-13. Coming into his UFC debut, Mozharov had a decent amount of hype. His knockout power made people interested in his potential in the UFC. With that being said, he did not look great against Menifield. He threw some big shots but Menifield was able to stay out of danger in exchanges. More importantly, Mozharov clearly does not have UFC caliber grappling which led to a TKO loss. I would not be surprised if Mozharov is cut, but it is more probable that he fights out his UFC contract against low-level fighters and debutants.
Erin Blanchfield will be fighting ranked competition soon
Erin Blanchfield opened UFC Vegas 56 with a standing guillotine choke finish in round two against JJ Aldrich. Blanchfield is now 9-1 in her career. The one loss is to No. 15 ranked Tracy Cortez in Invicta FC. Her UFC record is 3-0 with wins over established competition like Aldrich and Miranda Maverick. Blachfield has shown to be well-rounded with above-average wrestling. Her next fight will either be against a ranked opponent or someone just outside of the rankings. At worst, Blanchfield is one win away from fighting ranked competition.
