Alexander Volkov blasts Jairzinho Rozenstruik with punches to get first-round stoppage at UFC Vegas 56

Alexander Volkov bounced back in a big way from a loss in his last outing with a first-round stoppage over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in UFC Vegas 56’s main event.

After falling to Tom Aspinall at UFC London earlier in the year, Volkov had something to prove as he sought to remain among the elite fighters in the heavyweight division. The Russian definitely showed his power on Saturday, blasting Rozenstruik with a devastating right hand that served as the beginning of the end of the fight.

With Rozenstruik on wobbly legs, Volkov unleashed a barrage of shots that continued to find a home, and referee Herb Dean saw enough to stop the contest. While Rozenstruik never actually went down, he was eating a lot of punches without really showing much defense, leading to Volkov celebrating his TKO victory at 2:12 in the first round.

“I’m just feeling happy,” Volkov said. “I’m just waiting for the next fight. I’m ready for anything.

“I know that he has not good defense against the cage so I just stick him close to the cage and just go forward for the knockout. A good fight.”

With a size and reach advantage, Volkov started the fight by staying busy on the outside as he peppered Rozenstruik with leg kicks and then going back up with long, straight punches.

It was clear that Rozenstruik had to find an answer to get inside, so after a brief feeling out process, he just leapt forward while swinging huge heavy punches trying for a knockout of his own. The wild offensive onslaught didn’t do Rozenstruik any favors because Volkov countered with the right hand that came after him like a laser down the middle.

As soon as the shot connected, Rozenstruik was hurt badly — and that just opened the floodgates from Volkov, as he just started throwing lefts and rights in succession. Rozenstruik continued absorbing damage and Volkov obviously wasn’t slowing down, which led to Dean stepping in to call the fight before things potentially got much worse.

It appeared that Rozenstruik may have protested the stoppage because he walked away without any serious issues, but replays showed he was just eating punches without much to offer in return.

Either way, Volkov got the job done for the first-round knockout as he moves to 4-2 in his past six fights, while hoping to get another top ranked heavyweight when he returns again.

“I’m here in the UFC waiting for fights,” Volkov said. “Every time I’m ready for any challenge.”

As for Rozenstruik, the once-promising heavyweight prospect has now fallen to 1-3 in his past four fights with two losses in a row following the TKO suffered at Volkov’s hands on Saturday.