Volkanovski defeats Ortega in barnburner, Lawler spoils Nick Diaz's comeback at UFC 266

Alexander Volkanovski made a second successful defense of his UFC featherweight world title following a unanimous decision nod over fan-favorite Brian Ortega in the main event of UFC 266 on Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, United States.

Volkanovski and Ortega gauged each other with leg kicks and jabs in the opening round. They eventually landed clean shots at each other halfway through the stanza that opened a cut below Volkanovski's left eye while Ortega had one too on top of his left eye.

Volkanovski pressured Ortega in round two and landed numerous punches and kicks at his foe. Ortega showed grace under pressure as he landed strikes of his own.

Volkanovski started to takeover in round three, landing an overhand right that managed to hurt Ortega. The challenger came alive as his counter shots hit the spot but were unable to hurt the champion.

A hard exchange saw Volkanovski crash to the mat. Ortega went for a choke, lost his squeeze, got reversed then attempted a triangle. Ortega was unable to finish Volkanovski and was made to pay for it with a vicious ground and pound.

Ortega scored a takedown, tried another choke which Volkanovski was able to escape yet again. While on the canvas, Volkkanovski landed multiple punches that almost prompted the referee to halt the fight.

Ortega caught a second wind in the fifth and final round. He pushed forward against Volkanovski, whose phenomenal cardio allowed him to look as fresh as he was in round one.

After five fifteen-minute rounds, all three judges saw the fight for Volkanovski, improving his record to 22-1 while Ortega suffered his second loss as a professional as he dropped to 15-2.

Nick Diaz, meanwhile, saw action on the undercard after a six-year layoff against former UFC welterweight Robbie Lawler. The fight was a rematch of their first encounter that took place in 2004 where Diaz won via second-round knockout.

At 38 years old, Diaz looked every bit of his age against the 39-year-old Lawler. The aging warriors battled until the final round where Lawler mustered a technical knockout win over Diaz at the 0:44 mark of round three.

—MGP, GMA News