Heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes did exactly what he vowed to do in a “rag doll” decision win against Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night at the APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday. “Razor” Blaydes (14-2, one no contest) secured 14 of 25 takedown attempts against a valiant “Drago” Volkov (31-8). The Russian had somewhat of a resurgence in the fourth and fifth rounds, outstriking Blaydes but still conceding in wrestling. Blaydes, who is now on a four-fight win streak since losing to Francis Ngannou in 2018, handed Volkov more takedowns in this fight than he has received in his whole UFC career. “I’m tired,” said 29-year-old American Blaydes, who conducted most of his post-fight ESPN interview catching his breath and with his eyes closed. “Volkov was a lot harder to take down. He’s got big, strong legs. When I get to the thighs and hips I’m usually able to win there.” The 31-year-old Volkov suffered only his second loss since signing for the UFC in 2016. His last fight was a unanimous decision win against former NFL star Greg Hardy in November. Blaydes, who was ranked fourth in the heavyweight division leading up to the fight, expects a bout with whoever is crowned champion when Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier have their title fight trilogy set for UFC 252 in August. “It’s always a good experience to know you can go [25] minutes … you learn to win. I know I need to work on my conditioning after the third round and I’m happy with the win. Volkov’s legit. Next I want the title shot, there’s nowhere to go right now,” he said. Blaydes had tweeted on Thursday: “FYI if y’all were hoping to see a 25 minute stand up war you probably shouldn’t tune into the main event cause I fully intend on ragdolling my opponent just figured I’d let y’all know ahead of time.” In the co-main event, featherweight Josh Emmett (16-2) edged out Shane Burgos (13-2) via unanimous decision in the Fight of the Night and a potential fight of the year contender. Emmett landed two knock-downs against his fellow American. “I was so close in 2018. I was ranked fourth in the world, I had a small hiccup and had to reset, restart and work my way back up,” Emmett said, adding that he thought he “blew [his] ACL in the first 45 seconds” of the fight. “ I want to fight one more time this year at least and then really make a run at that title in early ‘21.” Women’s bantamweight Raquel Pennington (11-8) returned to the win column in a unanimous decision victory against Marion Reneau (9-6-1). Pennington last fought in a unanimous decision loss against former champion Holly Holm in January, putting the 43-year-old Reneau on a three-fight losing streak. “I expected exactly that, I watched film on her and stuff. I believe her last fight was two years ago, so just her coming back in we figured that’s what she would try to do is just strike and brawl so we just decided to take it into my hands and become a technical brawler and if it went to the crowd just kinda work the way we did. Basically everything we worked on, we were trying to put it out there tonight,” the 31-year-old Pennington said. Welterweight contender Belal Muhammad (17-3), whose family’s stores in Chicago were looted during the Black Lives Matter protests , beat Lyman Good (21-6-0, one no contest) via unanimous decision. In April, Good became the first UFC fighter to contract the coronavirus . “Lyman Good is coming off a huge knockout, and I went out there and I beat him. People said he was going to come out here and knock me out. He rocked me, but I’m still standing. I came out back on top,” said Muhammad, adding that it “was kinda awkward” to fight in front of a crowd-less arena with president Dana White sitting on the side. In the main event opener, American veteran Jim Miller (32-14, one no contest) surprised Roosevelt Roberts (10-2) with a first-round submission. The 36-year-old secured an arm bar against Roberts, who is 10 years his junior. “It means the most to me, it really does. I feel the weight on my shoulders to do the right things and live my life like that and keep that respect because I’ve earned it by the way I carry myself,” said Miller, adding that he “dealt with Lyme disease for a few years”. “I feel like I have a responsibility to the Roosevelts, the guys coming up. I’m not perfect, I don’t do everything perfect and that’s obvious, but I do this with the utmost respect for the athletes that share the Octagon with me.”