Alexander Volkov is expecting a finish in his upcoming fight with Alistair Overeem.
The pair will face off the in the main event of the UFC’s February 6 event in a pivotal matchup in the heavyweight division.
A win for both fighters would put them right in title contention with current champion Stipe Miocic set to defend his crown against Francis Ngannou a month later at UFC 260 on March 27.
Volkov has long been a fan of Overeem and given how both fighters tend to finish their fights, he doesn’t believe this one will go the five rounds either. And the Russian also believes he’ll eventually catch Overeem once the latter makes a mistake.
“Alistair Overeem used to be one of my favorite fighters when I was at the beginning of my professional career,” Volkov told MMA Junkie. “Surely, we have different styles, but I’ve always been impressed by his physical power, the ability to deliver accurate and hard punches, as well as his work in the clinch.
“In this regard, I know his strengths and weaknesses very well. Lately, he has worked more economically, but nevertheless, he remains just as dangerous. It is unlikely that our fight will last all five rounds. I’m sure I can catch him making a mistake.”
Volkov returned to the win column with an impressive second-round TKO win over Walt Harris in October. His previous outing saw him suffer a unanimous decision defeat to Curtis Blaydes after getting outgrappled for majority of the fight last summer.
To that, he cites having to train at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he is more than ready now if his fight with Overeem ends up on the ground.
“Primarily I’ve had the chance to train in a gym since the time of my fight vs. Curtis Blaydes,” Volkov said. “During lockdown in Moscow, I had to train at home. I developed strong functional skills and had lots of strength to conduct a five-round fight. But I didn’t have what the bout required – wrestling and sparring sessions in the gym.
“When training for the fight against Walt Harris, I followed our strategy of 2018 with a focus on the development of physical conditioning and allocation of more time to wrestling.”
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