He couldn't put Max Holloway to sleep, but Alex Volkanovski did put his rivalry with the Hawaiian to bed with a dominant unanimous decision victory in their trilogy bout on Sunday.
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The Aussie's dominance was written all over Holloway's face that was a bloody swollen mess at the conclusion of five rounds that saw Volkanovski declared the victor by 50-45 shut-out on all three judges scorecards.
Already 2-0 up heading into the bout, this was an exclamation point on a rivalry there was little evidence of on Sunday so dominant was the champion.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan waxed lyrical about the performance, describing it as a "virtuoso" showing that also silenced the vocally pro-Holloway crowd.
Volkanovski told Holloway at Saturday's weigh-ins that he couldn't bring those fans into the octagon with him and drove home that fact for the duration of the 25 minutes that left no room for the debate that followed his previous two decision wins over the man he first deposed as featherweight king in 2019.
Volkanovski looked sharper from the jump, claiming a close opening round with precision striking before running away with it in the rounds that followed.
Holloway ended the second round with a deep cut over his left eye courtesy of a Volkanovski overhand right, while his right eye was near swollen shut by the final bell having been target practice for the champion's left jab.
It was a performance made all the more impressive by revelations that he'd suffered a suspected broken hand (his left) in the second round. Scans are yet to confirm the injury, however, post-fight Volkanovski said "I'm pretty sure it's broken".
"Its obviously been a bit of a journey this rivalry," Volkanovski said.
"Taking the belt, the rematch and all that [negative] talk was a big part of my career. It all just adds to the story.
"There were a lot of ups and downs in there there was a bit I had to go through and silence a lot of people, a lot of people that needed silencing too.
"I've got nothing but respect for Max, I wouldn't be the fighter I am today without him. He's made me raise the bar. I don't need anyone to help me raise the bar but he makes it easy.
"Obviously a finish is always good but for someone to expect a finish in a fight like this, we're both durable, both tough, both smart... it's a legendary chin I wanted to crack but it stays legendary."
The victory will be enough for most to bestow featherweight GOAT status on Wollongong's fighting pride. Most good and bad judges consider Volkanovski the best two featherweights ever.
Volkanovski now holds a 3-0 advantage over the No. 2, while he also boasts a dominant win over the original GOAT Jose Aldo in his own backyard in Brazil.
His overall record now sits at a 25-1, while he's unbeaten at featherweight and has put together 12 straight wins in the UFC. Having cleaned out the division, all that appears left for the 33-year-old is a push a two-division king status.
In that vein, he issued a polite call-out to lightweight No. 1 contender Charles Oliviera who was octagon side.
The Brazilian lost his belt on the scales ahead of his last bout but retains top claim to the strap he'll almost certainly fight Volkanovski for next.
Volkanovski would not be the first two-division champ in UFC history, but he plans to be the most active once he overcomes the hand injury. He also feels he won't need a lead-in fight at lightweight.
"I don't need to fight anyone [else]. I'm a dominant champ, I'm taking out a guy like Max Holloway three times," Volkanovski said.
"Who's looked like that against Max Holloway?
"He's on the pound-for-pound list. You don't see someone dominate like that very often, someone who's so high on the pound-for-pound list, considered one of the greatest featherweights of all time.
"We might not have to ask the question [because of the hand injury]. I wanted to be active, my division wasn't going to keep me active enough so this might have come at a good time."
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