UFC 266 Results: Volkanovski vs. Ortega

UFC 266 headlined International Fight Week at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 25, 2021. Alexander Volkanovski survived two dangerous submission attempts to retain his featherweight title against Brian Ortega, while Valentina Shevchenko defended her flyweight championship and Robbie Lawler won his long-awaited rematch with Nick Diaz.

Volkanovski escapes and keeps the belt

Ortega’s third-round guillotine and triangle attempts provided the main event’s most dramatic moments. Volkanovski worked free of both, then responded with ground strikes that shifted the momentum back toward the champion.

Across five rounds, Volkanovski’s pace, striking and ability to recover from those threats earned a unanimous decision. Ortega stayed in the contest through sustained punishment, but the champion’s broader control of the fight was reflected in the scorecards.

Shevchenko’s defense and the Diaz rematch

Shevchenko stopped Lauren Murphy with strikes at 4:00 of the fourth round. The victory was her sixth successful defense of the women’s flyweight championship and another demonstration of how she could combine striking with dominant positions on the mat.

Lawler and Diaz met at middleweight, revisiting their 2004 fight. This time Lawler won by third-round TKO when Diaz declined to resume after going down. The official result is best described as a retirement TKO, rather than a conventional knockout.

Comebacks and developing contenders

Merab Dvalishvili overcame severe early trouble against Marlon Moraes before securing a second-round TKO. His recovery and relentless wrestling made the preliminary-card matchup one of the evening’s defining performances.

Curtis Blaydes, Jessica Andrade, Dan Hooker and Taila Santos also won. Chris Daukaus, Jalin Turner, Jonathan Pearce and Matthew Semelsberger supplied finishes, with Semelsberger’s knockout arriving just 15 seconds into his bout.

Complete UFC 266 results

• Alexander Volkanovski def. Brian Ortega — unanimous decision, R5, 5:00.
• Valentina Shevchenko def. Lauren Murphy — TKO (elbows and punches), R4, 4:00.
• Robbie Lawler def. Nick Diaz — TKO (retirement), R3, 0:44.
• Curtis Blaydes def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Jessica Andrade def. Cynthia Calvillo — TKO (punches), R1, 4:54.
• Merab Dvalishvili def. Marlon Moraes — TKO (punches), R2, 4:25.
• Dan Hooker def. Nasrat Haqparast — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Chris Daukaus def. Shamil Abdurakhimov — TKO (punches), R2, 1:23.
• Taila Santos def. Roxanne Modafferi — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Jalin Turner def. Uroš Medić — submission (rear-naked choke), R1, 4:01.
• Nick Maximov def. Cody Brundage — unanimous decision, R3, 5:00.
• Matthew Semelsberger def. Martin Sano — KO (punch), R1, 0:15.
• Jonathan Pearce def. Omar Morales — submission (rear-naked choke), R2, 3:31.

Sources

UFC 266 official results; Sherdog: complete UFC 266 fight record.

Article Tags

UFC, UFC 266, Mixed Martial Arts