(Editor's note: A post-fight column and video are still to come).
There was a lot working against Alexander Volkanovsk Saturday in his question to regain the featherweight championship against Diego Lopes i the main event of UFC 314 in Miami.
No fighter 35 or older had ever won a UFC title under welterweight. At 36, Volkanovski was not only fighting history, he was coming off of back-to-back losses and facing a hard-hitting, hungry opponent.
And in the third round, Volkanovski was inadvertently poked in the left eye, momentarily clouding his vision.
But he showed why he is one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. He more than doubled Lopes in significant strikes landed -- 158-63 -- and seemed to be one step ahead at all times. He won a unanimous decision by scores of 49-46 twice and 48-47. I had it 49-46 for Volkanovski.
Lopes has fearsome punching power and dropped Volkanovski at the end of the second. He was moving forward much of the fight and was winging hard shots throughout. Volkanovski showed his class, though. He got to the proper distance, inside Lopes' jab, and was able to clip Lopes repeatedly with a straight right and the left hook.
"Adversity is a privilege," Volkanovski said.
He was referring not only to the eye pokes but to knockout losses to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and featherweight champion Ilia Topuria which left some questioning whether his day had come and gone.
He had a few rough moments, but remained poised and tactical.