Russian heavyweight Alexander Volkov just took out a highly ranked legend in Alistair Overeem, but is it enough to get him a shot at UFC gold?
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Russian heavyweight Alexander Volkov re-established himself as a force to be reckoned with by TKOing Alistair Overeem in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 184 main event (watch the finish here).
There’s definitely something to be said for Overeem seemingly freezing in the fight, unable to mix things up past going for the big overhand left. But Volkov easily nullified that attack and then backed his opponent into the cage, cutting through his defensive shell like a hot knife through butter.
For a guy who took an unimpressive decision win over Greg Hardy less than two years ago, this is some serious improvement. Is it enough for him to jump from #6 ranked at heavyweight into a title shot? Probably not, but that didn’t stop Volkov from starting the conversation.
“I feel really great, I feel really excited,” he told Daniel Cormier during his post-fight interview. “And I am feeling right. It’s my time. I’m come to the belt. I felt like I could finish him in the second or third round. I saw his face, it was full of cuts and blood on face. So I was just waiting for a good punch, and I did it.”
“I work a lot, I feel now that I’m in really good shape but in future I’ll be better and better,” he added. “So this is not the finish of my shape, of my form. I’ll get better and I’m trying to make hard camps, working with all my skills which I didn’t do before, working to get better.”
As for what’s next?
“For sure I want to fight for the belt, this is first,” Volkov said. “But we’ll see. We’ll have some good fights in the future. With heavyweights we’ll see how it finish and we’ll see what will my place. But I surely want to take a title shot.”
Volkov is probably referencing the other big fights in his division which are about to shake out: #2 ranked Curtis Blaydes fights #4 ranked Derrick Lewis on February 20th, and #3 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik takes on #7 ranked Ciryl Gane on February 27th.
Maybe, just maybe, both of those fights end up being stinkers and Volkov finds himself ahead of the two winners with his impressive finish over “The Reem.” But we wouldn’t hold our breath.
Let’s not forget the Jon Jones wildcard, either.