Volkanovski Finishes Unbeaten Evloev, Yan Outlasts Merab Again

Volkanovski did what nobody else had managed in twenty fights. Evloev came in unbeaten, patient, methodical. None of that mattered once the champion found the finish at 4:54 of round two. Evloev had no excuses after, credited the champion and went back to the drawing board.

The co-main went the other way on paper but told a similar story about Yan's staying power. Dvalishvili won the first two rounds, pushed the pace like he always does, and still came up short. Yan's trilogy win was close enough to earn Fight of the Night, and Dvalishvili had nothing but respect for him afterward.

Elsewhere on the card, Alexander Volkov kept his heavyweight run going with a clean decision over Rizvan Kuniev, extending his streak to three. Dana White singled him out afterward, which tends to mean something for a heavyweight picture that never stays still for long.

The fighter who actually moved his stock was Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev. Facing a veteran in Nikita Krylov, the unbeaten light heavyweight needed one round. He's 11-0 now and already asking for ranked competition, which is the kind of request that gets harder to ignore every time he fights.

Outside the cage, Volkanovski wasted no time pointing up a weight class, calling out the lightweight champion before the night was even over. Whether that fight happens is a different conversation. For now, Abu Dhabi belonged to the two men already wearing gold.

Reporting from ESPN MMA, Yahoo MMA, Fightful, Sherdog.