UFC Vegas 18 results: Volkov, Sandhagen in title contention after stoppage wins

UFC Vegas 18 results: Alexander Volkov earned TKO over Alistair Overeem, while Cory Sandhagen earned a finish of the year against Frankie Edgar.

Las Vegas, February 7: Alexander Volkov and Cory Sanhagen made statement wins in the headliners of UFC Vegas 18: Overeem vs. Volkov, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday (February 6).

In the Main Event, heavyweight contenders #5 Alistair Overeem and #6 Volkov threw heavy hands in their opening stanza, mixed with damaging leg kicks.

In the second round, Volkov landed powerful combinations that wobbled Overeem and opened cuts, then his right jab-left hook worked its magic for a knockdown that caused the referee to stop the fight.

Introducing a new contender at heavyweight 🇷🇺 #UFCVegas18 pic.twitter.com/1Go6tQCfDp

— UFC (@ufc) February 7, 2021

In the Co-Main Event, #2 bantamweight Sandhagen made a case for becoming the future title contender with a stunning first round knockout of #4 Frankie Edgar. Sandhagen landed a jumping knee to the chin that toppled over Edgar and instantly made highlight reels around the world.

Holy Shit @cors_life pic.twitter.com/4YJIOobax9

— danawhite (@danawhite) February 7, 2021

Also on the main card, lightweight veterans Michael Johnson and Clay Guida came out at the bell and put on the fight fans expected with aggression and power, however it wasn't expected to go into the third round.

There, Guida's takedown plan succeeded in getting him back position where he attempted a choke, finishing the fight strong, and he won by unanimous decision.

Earlier, in a highly anticipated flyweight match up between #5 Alexandre Pantoja and debutant Manel Kape, round one was a tentative feeling-out process with Pantoja on the prowl, and round two saw him pick up his output which Kape began to match and ended strong with a takedown.

Kape continued his momentum into the third, but the judges looked highly upon Pantoja's output and awarded him the unanimous decision.

Lightweight rankers #10 Diego Ferreira and #13 Beneil Dariush rematched with high level grappling and aggressive striking for a full three rounds, negating the techniques of each other.

Who can argue? The co-main & main absolutely delivered 💵 #UFCVegas18 pic.twitter.com/VkYaioiDsB

— UFC (@ufc) February 7, 2021

The thrilling back and forth bout swung in the direction of Dariush with more control time and higher output, which earned him the split decision on the scorecards.

Opening the main card at light heavyweight, Danilo Marques out-grappled Mike Rodriguez throughout the first round, mixed in ground and pound in the second, then secured a rear naked choke to get the submission victory.

UFC Vegas 18 Fight Card Final Results

Main Card

1. Heavyweight bout: Alexander Volkov defeated Alistair Overeem via second-round TKO

2. Bantamweight bout: Cory Sandhagen defeated Frankie Edgar via first-round KO

3. Lightweight bout: Clay Guida defeated Michael Johnson via unanimous decision

4. Flyweight bout: Alexandre Pantoja defeated Manel Kape via unanimous decision

5. Lightweight bout: Beneil Dariush defeated Diego Ferreira via split decision

6. Light Heavyweight bout: Danilo Marques defeated Mike Rodriguez via second-round submission

Preliminary Card

1. Catchweight (160 lb) bout: Devonte Smith defeated Justin Jaynes via second-round TKO

2. Women's Bantamweight bout: Karol Rosa defeated Joselyne Edwards via unanimous decision

3. Women's Flyweight bout: Lara Procopio defeated Molly McCann via unanimous decision

4. Featherweight bout: SeungWoo Choi defeated Youssef Zalal via unanimous decision

5. Featherweight bout: Timur Valiev defeated Martin Day via unanimous decision

6. Featherweight bout: Ode Osbourne defeated Jerome Rivera via first round KO