UFC heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov spoke out prior to his fight against Ciryl Gane that took place at UFC Vegas 30. ‘Drago’ sat down with SCMP and shared an inclination to face the sitting heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou. His stance came in prior to losing a relatively one-sided decision to ‘Bon Gamin’ on the scorecards.
Despite losing to Gane, Alexander Volkov is confident that he has what it takes to ascend to the ranks of a champion. He’s suffered setbacks in the past, however, he hasn’t been discouraged by his prior downslides. It was clear from his interview that he’s confident in his abilities and will push the pace to reach the top.
“I think it’s logical because as our new champion shown desire to fight three-four times a year. We can fight anytime and I’ll be happy to face him after I handle everything with Gane.”
“I think we have a great history, a great history to promote he fights, but the main reason I want to face him is not because who he are but because he holds the belt.”
Alexander Volkov possesses skills that can give any heavyweight trouble under the right circumstances. By virtue of his imposing physique, fighters are unable to figure out his range both on offense and defense. He looked sensational in his win over Alistair Overeem and there’s no doubt he can cause Ngannou to lose a step.
The key factor going against Volkov is that he has lost to some of the current stand-outs in the division. He has been bested by Derrick Lewis, Curtis Blaydes, and now most recently, Ciryl Gane. This has greatly limited his options going forward.
Not to mention, it’s exceedingly hard for him to rematch these opponents as his defeats have been largely one-sided. However, his loss to Lewis sticks out as he was dominating ‘The Black Beast’ right until he was knocked out cold.
Alexander Volkov has the attributes to remain a major player in the heavyweight division for a long time to come. However, his chances of ascending towards the status of undisputed champion aren’t particularly optimistic at the moment.